Fourteen Ways To Say 'I Love You'
by Urchin of the Riding Stars
Summary: Drabble series! Oh, no! Vlad and Danny's first Anniversary is coming up, but Danny is sick of dealing with workaholic Vlad. Can Vlad rekindle the love they've shared in just fourteen days, or will he lose Danny forever? Pompous Pep-secret message at end!
1. Drabble One: Volatile

Fourteen Ways To Say I Love You

Drabble series! Oh, no! Vlad and Danny's first Anniversary is coming up, but Danny is sick of dealing with workaholic Vlad. Can Vlad rekindle the love they've shared in just fourteen days, or will he lose Danny forever? Pompous Pep, secret message at end!

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><p>Hi, everyone! :D Am currently a little bamboozled by the workload (Am smacking self upside the head for having been epically lazy of late) coming up, because school's coming to an end soon…which also means finals, college packing, and assorted chaos…:'( ) Still, I've always wanted to try doing a drabble series.<p>

Some will be much longer then others. But they call them drabbles for a reason, folks. ^^

Note: Roses are red, violets are blue.

I don't own, so please don't sue!

Oh, and there's a little code hidden in the story. ;) Let's see if you guys can break it by the time the story ends!

One last thing, I promise….

For this drabble, I want Vlad to know that while I don't especially care about football, I do supportChicago's teams…which includes the Bears, the Packers' big time rival. ^^ I don't suppose he'll be very cooperative for this story, now…

Drabble One: _Volatile_

He hadn't expected this.

Vlad stared blankly at the empty dining room table, briefcase slipping from limp fingers onto the green and gold carpet, making a soft _thump_. As if pulled by invisible threads, the dumb marionette's dark blue eyes slowly trailed to the thin wisps of smoke trailing from the now melted stubs of candles perched in the candelabras.

He mentally groaned, and wearily drew a hand over his face.

_Oh, no…._

That…wasn't tonight, was it? Fingers shaking slightly, the billionaire quickly drew out his electronic planner, countenance skeptical.

Of _course _today wasn't the day he'd promised to have dinner with Daniel for a change. He would have remembered; he would have been home early, he would have been certain to make arrangements ahead of time as to reschedule that board meeting with his corporation directors…..

"Apple Danish," the man murmured underneath his breath, as his eyes scanned the telltale electronic numbers.

Yes, that was exactly today. Blast. Vlad sank into one of the nearby chairs, trying to ignore the now-cold platters of food in front of him. Stupid classic soap opera scene.

Surely Daniel would understand-he was a busy man! This….this had happened before, yes, but Vlad didn't even remember loading the date into his personal calendar.

He started.

Oh, wait…..

_"Daniel, you didn't have to wait up for me. You could have just gone to bed."_

_Danny's arms wrapped around the man's thin waist while the elder hybrid busily flicked through his TV settings, looking for the Packer's game he'd missed Friday._

_"I was about to go home, to be honest. Vlad, haven't you been putting in enough hours as it is? Those new branches in __Kyoto__ aren't-"_

_Vlad Masters scowled._

_"They are very important, despite what you might think, Daniel. I need to pick out my newest executives carefully. I have no need for a staff that needs constant babysitting."_

_Danny had pouted…or something. The Packers were playing the Bears in a battle for the Superbowl, and Vlad was already sore about missing it. He admittedly wasn't paying much attention to the boy cradled in his lap._

_Danny had put his chin in hand, staring unhappily at Vlad for a few moments._

_"….I get that. Really. But you're never home, anymore-and I only get so much Summer Vacation before I have to get back to school, you know. I have an internship at the local observatory that'll hopefully lead to-"_

_"Mmm, yes. You told me." Vlad said faintly, avidly watching the players swarming in and out of the screen. If and when the Packers won, he would be more then prepared in his private box at the game….._

_Danny scowled, then seized the remote, and paused the recording. Vlad irritably turned his head back to his lover._

_"…what?"_

_Danny frowned at him for a second, then sighed, his countenance resigned._

_"….Vlad. You said last month that this was a short-time program-that'd it be over by the next two weeks. It's been four."_

_Vlad slowly shook his head. _

_"I'm sorry. But it WILL be over soon, Daniel, I promise," he said seriously, turning to look down at the boy casting him a skeptic look. _

_"Truly. It's just that I have to oversee all the new Internship programs, and the transfer documentation, and all the tax credits that need-"_

_The younger hybrid raised his hands in defeat. _

_"Okay, okay, you win. I gotcha. But can't we at least have a nice dinner alone or something, sometime?" he asked wistfully, placing a hand on Vlad's cheek. The billionaire pressed PLAY on his remote, but said nothing. Danny tried again._

_"….like, maybe this weekend, if you're free?_

_Vlad nodded absentmindedly, before kissing Danny chastely on the head._

_"Sounds wonderful, but can you just type it into my-no, no, NO!" _

_Vlad sprung up from the couch, sending a flailing and squawking Danny onto the floor. His cobalt eyes were ablaze as a player in blue and orange zipped past several players with gold helmets-_

_"Get him! **GET HIM!** HE-AGH! Noooooooo!"_

_Vlad almost swore as he started stamping his foot up and down, looking sickened._

_"YOU LET THAT GET PAST YOU? Oh, that's just perfect, absolutely perfect…."_

_Danny, rolling his eyes, and mentally comparing Vlad to a two year old, reached for the forgotten planner, and started to type in the date._

Oh….perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Vlad swore underneath his breath, rolling his eyes.

Well, this could hardly be called _his_ fault, though the boy certainly must have been waiting a long time. Which meant…..

Vlad drew a mournful glance at the chair at the end of the table. Butter biscuits. Daniel must have gone to bed-probably angry. Hopefully, a little make-up make-love session would help, although the thought didn't really make Vlad feel any better.

Well, this was the fourth time in two weeks this had happened, but they would simply try again tomorrow. If he could just reschedule the next meeting with the board of directors…..

The prospects didn't look good, and Vlad bit his lip. He'd been absolutely delighted when the boy had promised to spend a month of his precious spring break with him…..but ultimately, between work, extra hours, and the work he brought home, there really wasn't much time for any quality time.

Vlad moodily spun around a wine glass in his fingertips.

The young college student had free access to his castle, three swimming pools, a fitness lab, tennis courts with pitching machines, plenty of those electronic games Daniel and his friends seemed so crazy about…..surely he had to be happy, here. He understood that Vlad's company was his pride and joy-pardoning the younger hybrid, of course-but ultimately, Masters _was_ a busy man! He'd missed a few dates that he felt terrible about, but that could all change tomorrow.

Invigorated, Vlad phased into his spectral form, intending to zip through the walls and see if Daniel was still awake. He glanced at his pocket watch. It was now….

…..11:49 p.. Vlad's eyes widened in disbelief.

Good glory, did he really spend four extra hours at work then necessary? He hadn't at all kept track of the time….which meant that while Vlad had waited four hours to come home, Danny had waited for six for him.

Vlad rolled his eyes as a sudden wave of guilt burst over him. He had to go wake the boy up. He had to wake the boy, apologize for being late (Apologize for waking him up in the dead of night, but this could not wait), and promise promises that could actually hold water, this time. They'd almost made it to an entire year now, together. They could easily tread through this.

Hopeful, Plasmius zipped into the air-only to stop abruptly when a patch of white on the dining room table caught his eye. Curious, he doubled back.

A letter. A letter with his name on it-in Daniel's normal scrawl. Feeling both apprehensive and amused, Vlad scooped it up, carelessly ripped it open, and drew a small piece of paper out.

The small smile on his face slowly died away.

_Vlad,_

_I wanted this meal to be something special, so I actually gave your cooks a hand in the kitchen. Turns out I'm a cook who can burn water and ruin cereal, and your staff begged me to take a leave of absence, but we still managed. You didn't._

Vlad winced at that part.

Ouch.

He read on.

_It's now __10:00__, and am now exhausted. I'm thinking you either forgot to message me ahead of time that you were working overtime, or you forgot about tonight entirely. Guess work can do that to a guy._

_Anyway, I just wanted to say that I really do appreciate how hard you work for your company, and how tired you really are when you get home. (All that yelling and screaming you have to do in front of the TV can really take a number out of a guy, too.) _

Oh, come now, Daniel, that was just…..maybe a little truthful….

_But back to my main point. I'm going to respect your wish for a little peace and quiet around the place when you get home-and no nagging boyfriends who want to spend quality time pestering you. I'm going._

….

…

…

It took a moment for the consuming shock in Vlad's head to recede just a little for comprehension to understand thought.

'What?'

_Am packing my things, and am accepting Tuck's invitation to go on that cruise he was talking about three week ago. If you don't remember, am not completely shocked. Sam, Dani, Valerie, and Qwan are going, too. Qwan was a bit of a jerk in High School, but he's not so bad when he's not hanging around Dash. Anyways, after what I'll do after that….I don't know. Valerie invited me to go down to __Oklahoma__ to visit her relatives; Qwan invited me up to his parents' summer house in __California__. He said he had something he wanted to tell me. ? ? ? ? _

….oh, no, oh, no, oh, no, oh, no, oh, no, oh, no …..

Someone was shaking the paper quite violently now, and the words were getting harder and harder and blurrier to read.

_But Sam and Tucker want me to return to __Amity__Park__ once our flight comes back. Not sure. But I won't bore you with the details-though I'll be back in the States in two weeks. Don't worry about me coming back for my things-I was pretty thorough. _

_The words here with congealed, as though tears had run into the ink._

_Vlad. I'm sorry. I love you. But your castle doesn't mean anything to me, especially without you. It never did. And maybe I never did to you, either-considering the moment I first told you that I loved you, you immediately assumed you had me forever, without even trying. And you did. For awhile. And you stopped trying. _

_Lo-Sincerely,_

_Danny Fenton_

Oh.

The person quaking the paper so sadistically was Vlad. It trembled in his hands, before gloved fingers slowly curled around it in a vice like grasp, before the paper burst into pink flames.

He knew nothing. He saw nothing. Nothing was more acute then the waves of panic now racing before his blind eyes; and his mind was bolting out of its seams in fear.

_'Daniel, Daniel, ….!_'

His head shot up, eyes widening in horror.

**"DANIEL!" **

He wildly glanced at his watch;midnight. Daniel had written this note two hours ago, but what if, what if, by some miracle, he was still….?

Quickly becoming intangible, Vlad shot through walls, effortlessly passing room after room.

Billiard Room. No Daniel. Library. No. Daniel. Second Library. No. Guest Bedroom 1#. No Daniel. Guest Bathroom 2#. No such luck.

The older specter flew towards Vlad's master bedroom, with images of Danny rifling through the drawers for his belongings flashing through his mind. If he could just make it in-

Plasmius zipped into the room, stopping so abruptly he slammed into the wall, making the grandiose chandelier above them rattle. Cursing, he swung his head around-

No Danny. The drawers had been left open-either on accident, or as an insult to injury. Regardless, the latter was extremely effective.

Sick with dread, Vlad approached another little piece of paper perched on the now lonely side of the billionaire's huge canopy four-poster, mouth extremely dry-

_If you bothered to look, I was serious when I said I'd be thorough. Sorry. _

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><p>Amelia yawned wearily as she fumbled for her ringing phone next to her snoring husband. Whoever was trying to call her certainly was giving in without a fight. Crabby, she flicked her phone's receiver on, deciding that anything below a fire or a trip to the ER wasn't worth getting up for.<p>

"Wha?" she murmured sleepily, eyes already closing once again….

"Mrs. Meahan," answered an angry voice. "I trust you've been sleeping well?"

Amelia Meahan, one of Vlad's personal secretaries, nearly fell out of bed from shock. Blinking wildly, wondering what in the world she'd done wrong this time, she turned on her bedside lamp, and drew her glasses on, blinking uncomfortably in the light.

"Oh! Ah, um…good evening, Mr. Masters," she said hurriedly, before glancing at her nearby clock. "Or, that is to say….good morning?"

"I won't be in for work tomorrow, Mrs. Meahan."

Amelia started, but efficient as she was, simply murmured an affirmative. "Alright. Then, I'll just push the meetings with the new executives for the day after-"

"Amelia, I won't be in for two weeks."

This time, poor Mrs. Meahan really did fall out of bed. Nearly dropping her phone, she frantically started recalling next week's schedule. Mr. Masters didn't have a vacation scheduled….and he was going to have that meeting with Mr. Perezzi, the owner of a business willing to sell her boss a new stipulant for DALV's…..

"Well, I, I…yes, sir, but several people are coming in fromJapanweek after next," she tried again, hoping this was her employer's terrible idea of a joke. "You see, they're-"

But Vlad's voice cut her off.

"Just handle it. If they have to pay for their flight reschedule, tell them that DALV will handle it personally. Talk to Finance."

But Amelia was still stumbling.

"Well-I-er, yes, gladly-but, but-"

"There will be a bonus for you in your pay check next month. I will see you in a fortnight." Vlad's voice definitely sounded harried. "Goodbye."

And just like that, he hung up, leaving Mrs. Meahan aghast in her bed.

Groaning, she reached for her personal notebook, blearily noting she was probably going to hear a few more people shouting before this ghastly night ended….

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><p>His pilots were certainly surprised to see their employer at 1 in the morning, and even more surprised when he demanded that they fly out toNew York Cityimmediately. But they'd sluggishly began to prep the man's private jet for travel as Vlad made a series of hasty and abrupt calls as one of his maids hurriedly loaded in a packed suitcase or two.<p>

Expression dark, Vlad held his phone to his ear for one more phone call, drawing in breath sharply.

"Hi. You have reached Danny Fenton. Chances are, I'm kicking back, or kicking some ghost's behind, so leave me a message after the…."

Vlad growled as the dial tone switched to the messaging machine, but his expression changed almost immediately.

"Daniel, Daniel, love, I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry, but I just can't-"

The machine cut him off. Settling in his leather's passenger seat and haphazardly pulling his seat belt around him, he redialed.

"Daniel, I didn't get to finish. Just please, _please_ pick up. I need to talk to you. If you want to go on this cruise, excellent! I'll come with you. Just-"

_Beep!_

Vlad was cut off again, and the pilots in the cock pit distantly heard a swear word they'd never quite heard before-at least in _that_ context.

"Daniel, you left your flight receipt in the wastebasket. I know you're probably already on the flight toNew Yorkfor the ship departure, so I can't reach you by then, but I just want you to know that I-"

_Beep._ Oh, yes, Vlad was buying Danny a new phone for Christmas. Or better yet, as soon as possible.

He leaned back in his seat, adrenaline still pumping through his veins as the jet began to pick up speed on the runway.

Daniel hadn't 'spoken' to him like that in years, and the hurt was bitterly palpable. As for allowing him to go on this trip alone….

It left Vlad feeling even queasier then before, even as the jet geared for takeoff by rocketing near the gate. He started rocking back and forth in his chair, recalling that that arrogant little brat who had given Daniel such a hard time in High School was suddenly interested in telling Danny something 'important,' and wanted to invite him for what had to be a private retreat.

If he didn't already know that the jet moved faster them he did in the air, Vlad was ready to simply phase out, and fly the distance toNew Yorkhimself. Teleporting fromWisconsinto there, however, would probably leave him half-dead.

He was almost willing to risk it. Miss Gray had once dated Danny, and also seemed interested in asking the young hybrid to go with her on a miniature vacation. And then there was Miss Manson-who'd never confessed what she very obviously felt to Danny.

Vlad tried to wave his worries away with a scoff. That was too unfounded. Danny had chosen him after all, hadn't he? Yes, he was upset-and had every right to be-but he hadn't heard Vlad out yet.

What he was going to hear other then pleas and assurances that all would be better, Vlad didn't know.

Getting lightheaded, and recalling that he did have to breathe, Vlad exhaled, but his eyes still glowed a bloody red when recalling Daniel's wretched friends.

Daniel would come back to him. Yes, yes he would-and all could be as it should be again. Absurd as it was, Vlad needed Danny. After Danny, he had money, but it had done so very little for him in those twenty dark years he'd spent alone. After that was his company….

The company that had gotten him into trouble in the first place! The man grit his teeth, and threw his head back, shaking hands covering his face.

No. He couldn't lose Danny. He had nothing left after the raven-haired halfa.

Trying to calm down, Vlad stared at the sea of lights below him outside the window, wondering if Danny was passing them as well, or very, very far away….

His fingertips dug into his palms.

This was all his fault. He should have known. Danny was, in many ways, fragile, and almost as volatile as Vlad Masters.

He didn't notice the small cuts his nails left behind.

The end of Drabble One! Oh, no-Vlad's made a terrible mistake, and Danny's making a dramatic exit straight out this country! D:

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><p>As to why I brought Qwan into the picture…not quite sure. Ditto Danielle. I guess I feel that she's kind of misunderstood. Sorry, guys, you're not getting straight-up pompous pep and good old-fashioned angst every corner. ^^ That's just 65% of the story.<p> 


	2. Drabble Two: Lust

Drabble Two: Lust

Really, REALLY don't like this chapter...at all. X( It's a different style then I like to use, but if I used my original, I would have bored you all with a lot of nonessential info that would have gone on for pages. Please review.

Even if you somehow removed the hours of waiting in hopeless hope for Vlad, it had been a very, very long night.

Wincing at the thin rays of sunlight insistently probing at his face through the tiny window, Danny sullenly slid the cover halfway across it, reconsidered, and then pressed his aching forehead against the cool glass.

Why hadn't he simply gone ghost and flown the distance himself? Certainly, it would take longer, but this small, overpacked bit of tin several thousand feet in the air was becoming nearly unbearable. He guessed that traveling alongside Vlad for so long-who'd insisted on traveling in nothing short of tasteful luxury-had spoiled him, somewhat.

At the thought of the older hybrid, Danny's eyes flickered, which looked astonishingly blue in contrast to the dark rings underneath them.

Another reason Danny was so thankful Vlad wasn't here? The fact that that stupid little pet name of his would now actually make sense. 'Little badger.'

Gnawing the inside of his mouth, the teen stared out over the approaching Big Apple below, his own stony, red-eyed reflection staring back at him, his skin pale and wan. Danny's fingertips unconsciously twitched towards his phone, but he stifled the impulse by shoving his hands in his jean pockets.

Which impulse it was, Danny didn't know. To either check his voicemail, or turn the phone intangible, and hurl the wretched thing as far behind him as he could manage, where he would never find it again, where it would invariably be smashed to pieces.

Either way was a lose-lose situation. What would hurt more? Hearing another one of the billionaire's pathetic excuses and empty promises, or being brushed off by the man as a simple, overemotional annoyance?

The thought made his eyes burn once again, and he bit the inside of his mouth hard, hurriedly stooping to retie his shoelaces when a stewardness bustled by. Rubbing his mouth and nose, Danny sat up once again, expression blank, but his eyes indignant daggers.

Nearly a year of the man coaxing and pleading him to accept him-for him to DATE a man the same age as his own father! And then, some of the best weeks of Danny's life, some slow and timeless, the others an absentminded blur. Life's always better knowing someone loves you-especially to the extent Vlad made Danny feel.

Or had _tricked_ him into feeling. In the end, the selfish moron never learned a thing. The man would do whatever it took to win a prize he sought after, but once it was his, he simply treated it as one of his countless possessions-so easily stored away in some unused chamber in his mansion. A satisfactory trophy to see when you occasionally passed it by.

Danny buried his face in his hands, and tried to keep himself from making a noise.

"Damn it..."

After this cruise, what did he do? It had certainly not taken him long for him to decide to leave. Danny had forgiven Vlad for far, far worse, but this was the straw that had finally sent the camel collapsing to the ground.

It wasn't as though Danny didn't have a place to stay, of course-but what was going to happen between him and Vlad? Would Vlad be angry, and reignite their old rivalry? Would the two simply fall out of contact? Would the man want to reconcile? Or would the man do absolutely nothing?

The last thought was painful, but now, if the kid never saw the other hybrid again, it would be too soon. He'd given him his time, his dignity, his virginity, and his heart. And if the man wanted to exchange that for his work, then who was Danny to deny him?

'Probably screwing around with one of his secretaries...'

Danny thought darkly, the corners of his mouth just barely twitching in a bitter smile.

Uncomfortably leaning back in his small plastic seat, his long fingertips played with a little gold band that scattered sparkles onto the face of his snoring seatmate. The precious metal, chain, and stone were hot against his skin as the halfa turned the ring around for the umpteenth time to stare at the detailing.

It was Vlad's old college ring, set with a bloodred stone. How very Vlad. The man had given it to him six months after they began dating, and had complained that he never saw his lover wear it on his ring finger. Danny had protested that it kept sliding off, and objected Vlad's offer to have it resized. Instead, the boy had worn it on a chain around his neck, claiming that the ring was now closer to his heart. Vlad didn't argue with him after that, though he still had an irritating habit of leaving suspicious 'love bites' on his neck that were awfully hard to hide.

Danny rolled his eyes and colored at the corniness at all. For a brief second, he considered tossing the ring outside the plane alongside his phone. Then, a voice interrupted his thoughts:

'Good morning, all passengers-it is now seven o'clock in New York State. Temperatures are currently passing at 63 degrees, with an expected high of 80. Altitude winds are...'

The cool, professional voice continued to crackle over the loudspeaker, though to the young man in isle thirteen's ears, it was just more meaningless noise:

'...we will be landing shortly, though we do ask that passengers keep their cell phones and other assorted electronics off...'

Gloomy, Danny drew his knees to his chest and hugged them, unhappy eyes piercing and gloomy.

Knowing Vlad, the man had already sent him an angry, blustering message. That, or...

Danny almost turned ghost, and shot out of the window himself as the plane at last began to descend altitude.

What would happen after this journey across the sea, he didn't know. But he hoped that it would at least clear his thoughts up a little bit.

In spite of himself, he grudgingly returned Vlad's chain and ring around his neck, slipping it underneath his shirt. He'd mail it back to the man when he got back to dry land, and a clearer idea of what he was going to do next. Right now, he felt sort of bare without it, even if it did bump a painful reminder against his skin when at last the plane landed, and he stood to disembark.

Tugging his small bag of belongings behind him, nursing a headache and the results of a sleepless night, the last thing the boy expected was for a cheer to echo through the terminal when people had begun leaking out. Starting, he nonetheless shook his head slightly, and continued on his way, expecting that it was simply for some poor-

"FEN-er, Danny!"

Upon hearing the all-too familiar voice, Danny froze, and twisted around-but not in time to see the blur of black and blue fly towards him.

However, he DID have a nice view of the stars that flashed through his eyes as Qwan knocked the wind out of him by seizing him a bearlike hug.

Or maybe his former bully was just trying to strangle him once again. Danny would have believed either. His feet were helplessly kicking at least a foot in midair.

Qwan pulled back to beam at the other boy, but suddenly flushed, and hurriedly dropped Danny like a sack of potatoes, which the gasping boy was all too thankful for as he massaged his windpipe.

The Asian's hands fluttered uncertainly to Danny's jacket, trying to wipe out the large creases now scattered on the material.

"Oooh...agh..."

While the Freshman in college tried to speak a coherant sentence, Danny stumbled back an inch, attempting to do the same.

"...Q-Qwan?" he croaked at last, staring bewilderedly at his old schoolmate.

Certainly, he remembered Qwan-it had been but months since he'd seen the Asian at graduation. But while Qwan appeared taller-did the teen ever stop growing?-he was also much toned, and his muscles, whilst still rippling, didn't look like burlap sacks stuffed in his trademark Jock jacket sleeves anymore.

Speaking of which...

Qwan had also hastily taken a few steps back, his face worried, as though he were wondering if he'd upset his former victim. He rocked back and forth on designer sandals, slanky black capris that seemed custom-made to show off the boy's legs, and a short-sleeved, baby blue polo. When had the guy worn anything but sweaty, expensive jerseys?

"Uh, hey, man. Good to see you again."

Upon getting over his shock, Danny managed a smile, though it was still somewhat fixed. But at the very least, the dumbfoundment of seeing Qwan actually looking quite so healthy (The kid had done nothing but shove food that would put a hummingbird into a diabetic coma throughout his highschool career into his mouth) distracted the young hybrid from the current misery of his existence.

"I-I-Qwan! You're...looking, uh, great! How are you doing?"

Remembering his manners, Danny extended his hand, which Qwan very eagerly took, smiling toothily. His hands were a lot sweatier then Danny remembered them to be back in the golden days when the guy used to help shove him into a locker.

"Thanks! Good...good...college's been fantastic, been helping me sort out my options and experiment 'n stuff. How about you? You're looking...good..." Qwan trailed off in a weak lie, his originally buoyant expression now turning to that of confusion.

"Actually, dude, are you okay? You look a little...iffy."

Iffy?

Danny blinked.

"Never better. Flight was good."

Qwan was still staring at him, making him feel slightly uncomfortable, for whatever reason.

"You sure, dude? Your eyes are all red."

Traitors! Danny shook his head, glad that his voice was still hoarse.

"Nah. The flight actually WAS a little rocky...and all the engines were going at once where I was sitting. I actually didn't get much sleep last night, actually."

Qwan's puzzled expression turned to that of sympathy.

"Oh. Well, in that case, why don't we grab breakfast and a nap while we wait for the others to show up? My treat. Well, uh, the breakfast part, actually," Qwan offered, not seeming to realize his own lame joke.

While sleep sounded heavenly, Danny didn't think he could stomach anything right now, though he should have been starving. He actually didn't eat any of the dinner last night that was now rotting in the disposal.

Let it rot.

Danny smiled faintly, but shook his head.

"Nah, Qwan...I'm good. Besides, aren't Sam and the others supposed to be coming-hey!"

But Qwan had already seized Danny's travel bag, and with herculean strength, hoisted it onto his shoulder, making several passerby hurrying back in forth in the terminal cast him strange looks, but the boy didn't seem to notice. Danny attempted to seize his bag back, but just as the kid had done in Elementary school, Qwan just held it over his head, out of a hopping Danny's reach.

"No way, man. At least let me carry this."

Danny stifled something between a laugh and a groan.

"You do know that has wheels, right? I can carry it, so-ermph-give it back!"

Qwan just shrugged, and, seizing his own travel bag and tucking it under his arm, he then tugged a stunned Danny down a nearby esculator. He really had a vicelike grip.

Bewildered, Danny discreetly phased his arm free, although the Asian turned to give him a surprised stare, bending his head to give his now empty hand a confused look.

But then, he started chuckling, ignoring Danny's disapproving stare.

"Dude. Relax. It's okay. I don't mind."

"But-"

Qwan uncomfortably turned around to face forwards again as the esculator steps ended. Effortlessly, he started marching across the polished floors, with strides that had Danny nearly running to keep up.

"Fenton, just let me do this, okay? I'm not gonna pretend I'm a genius like your friend Folley who can do better favors then this. I owe you, and you owe me this."

Qwan cast Danny an annoyed look as the two turned a corner.

"Dash and I gave you eight years of hell, Fenton. Just be a man and let me carry this. And let me shovel down a few dozen eggs and muffins down your gullet while we're at it-I think you've lost about a third of your weight since I last saw you this month."

This Month?

Hadn't it been somewhere around thirty to forty weeks?

But he could consider that later. Danny had never believed in aliens prior to this moment, but now wondered if there was any possibility in Qwan's being replaced by some bizarre, hideous, somehow better looking and friendlier replica. Mouth dropping open, Danny stuttered for a moment.

"I-but-you-"

But Qwan wanted to hear nothing of it. Exasperated, and now, just a little bit amused, the boy allowed himself to be tugged into a nearby cafe by Qwan-replica, his hand slipping out of his pocket once more.

Maybe it was simply the influence of wealthier and golden little bad boy Dash that had made Qwan into such an unbearable cretin at school. Otherwise, the results were quite surprising; Qwan was actually a very insecure, but also a very diplomatic and sensitive boy, all things considering. Sam, Tucker, Dani, and Valerie, it transpired, were still at a local hotel, getting ready for the Cruise Ship's departure. But Qwan had volunteered to meet Danny at the Airport-three hours early.

Danny had just been taking a feeble sip of coffee, but had starting to cough violently, and Qwan had had to punch him a few times on the back. Though Qwan had tried to be gentle, Danny suspected that he left bruises the size of peaches in his wake.

"I-ow!-sorry-you-what?"

Looking again like an awkward schoolboy, Qwan raised and lowered his shoulders, looking sheepish.

"I, uh, well, yeah. Don't worry-I had a book to read. Sam was going to come, too, but I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. So I just left a note on the table and went to go find myself a seat."

It was one of the more thoughtful, creepy sort of things Vlad occasionally did, though he usually just hired someone to go in his stead. Taking his thoughts out of dangerous territories, Danny thanked the passing busboy for setting down a tray of food (One small one that Qwan forced on him; three large for Qwan), and turned back to the boy still smiling anxiously back at him, feeling nervous.

"So! Well, how have...how have you been? How has College life been treating you?"

Sam had warned Danny in their Sophmore year after Sam's (Very brief) time spent with one of the school's better athletes and social circle members, that the kid was a talker. And for right now, the teen just wanted to listen-listen for as long as Qwan could blither on, just so long as he didn't have to personally say much. He'd never been good at lying, either.

Qwan didn't disappoint him. For the next half hour, Danny just leaned back in his seat, food for the most part untouched, disbelief etched out in every line of his face, as if chiseled in by Michelangelo.

Either Qwan was taking him for quite the ride, or Danny had to return to his replica conspiracy again.

It was strange enough to hear Qwan talk of poetry classes and of someday saving the whales-even stranger for Danny to hear him happily chirp on about his new social life:

"Dad wants me to go on with the football program-says that he's never been prouder in his life. Coach says that I need to piledrive more focus into my defense on the field, because I do have the ideal body of a pro player."

Qwan's chest rose, and then fell slightly as he reached inside the breadbasket for his fourth blueberry muffin.

"But I really like my badminton and cooking courses, though my Dad doesn't really know about either of them. Truth of the matter is, Mom's been paying for them in secret. I don't think Dad would like it too much if he knew what else I'd been doing-he got mad enough when I joined a philosophy club in the first semester. He says that he and my mom have been investing their time and money in a future athlete, and that what he calls 'Girls' Classes' are really just..."

Qwan went on, and Danny, who'd been about to interrupt to say that he wanted to make a quick call, paused, and continued to listen, feeling a bead of sympathy opening up for the boy who used to back-hand him against the lockers. Qwan certainly didn't believe he had a say in his own study, which while seemed just a little bit sad to Danny, he could certainly commiserate on a topic or two.

Danny's phone stayed off, for good, or for ill. The inbox was already full.

At last, at last, the two stood up from their table, and hurried outside to await the waiting taxis. Of course, Qwan insisted on shoving Danny's luggage in, and tried to help Danny into one of the vehicles. Now, Danny had no idea why he'd regarded the bully as anything other then endearingly annoying.

Of course, Sam had flown at him for a hug (Qwan had started to clear his throat after a few seconds), and Tucker, Danielle, and Valerie had fallen suit. Valerie had remained fit as ever, despite the fact that she no longer hunted specters in Amity Park. She'd given Danny a friendly peck on the forehead, which made the teen hope that the tips of his ears weren't as red as they felt.

With little time to spare, they arrived at the dock where the enormous cruise ship was looming, like a minature Taj Mahal floating majestically and serenely out in the middle of the waters. Boarding was relatively easy, and soon enough, Qwan had his arm lightly around Danny's shoulders as the five waved out to the throngs below who'd come to see their loved ones off in a shower of confetti.

Then, as soon as Qwan had turned to wave energetically towards his parents, Danny at last flicked open his cell, hands shaking slightly.

He didn't care. He didn't. He couldn't. But he still had to know.

A message answered him as soon as he dialed in:

"Daniel. I'm sorry. I don't know what to do, but if you insist on being childish, then I'll simply just-"

The message cut off. Then-_Beep! _Another one.

"-wish you would pick up the phone, and stop this-"

Beep!

"-whatever you want, Daniel. I'm sure I'll see you very soon."

Beep!

"VERY soon. You know that I lo-"

Beep!

For a moment, Danny just stood there. He could have yelled and torn at his hair in sheer frustration. Being a sentimental baby, he could have cried.

At the very least, he wanted to smile.

But instead, he listened to the phone start to ring again, and, without any further ado, he chucked his ringing cell phone straight into the choppy waves of the sea.

As the ship slowly began to pull away, Danny turned his back on the waves, and left his vaguely surprised friends behind as he left for his room, fingering his ring.

That could come later.

He'd pleaded exhaustion, but his friends had insistently tugged him out for an afternoon at the indoor arcade, outdoor pool, and spa. Evening had broke, and dinner had already passed, but now, the group wanted to go to a dance being held on the Outdoor Ballroom on the Main Galla.

Trying to conceal his horror at the idea of dozens of elderly couples gently swaying to old love songs, Danny had grinned, somewhat nervously as he shook his head, feeling Sam's violet eyes on him. Obviously, the goth knew that something was wrong-very wrong-but none of them even knew that he was in a relationship with a middle-aged, half phantasmic billionaire.

Or had been.

"Nah...I'm...I'm good, thanks. I think I'm going to bed early, actually."

Expecting the hordes of groans and protests, Danny raised his hands. If it had been anyone but the man he'd been stupid enough to be taken in by, this wouldn't have been a problem. At all. But all Danny wanted was a little alone time. ASAP.

"I'm sorry to be such a buzzkill, but I've been feeling kind of yuck lately-I'll be just fine in the morning. If I go now, I think I might just pass out on the dance floor."

Understanding, at least, had flickered in Sam, Tucker, and Dani's eyes. Or at least, as much as they understood that 'yuck' generally meant 'overtly exhausted from ghost hunting.'

Or, in this case, 'overtly heartsick and desperate to forget that a certain creep had ever existed.' Whichever one worked.

Qwan had stood up from the Captain's Table.

"C'mon, Danny-can't you just stay for a little while?"

"I'm...I'm really tired," Danny said truthfully, uncomfortably moving his gaze away from the concerned Asian's stare. "I think I might have a bug, or, um, I-"

Suddenly, Qwan's puzzled face lit up with understanding.

"Oh. Have you not ever been on a boat before? Feeling a little seasick?"

To be painfully honest, Danny HAD been on a boat before-Vlad's yacht. That occasion, Vlad had had his phone glued to his ear, too.

Feeling a sick lurch in his stomach, Danny nodded. He'd never been a good liar, but it was mostly truth, anyway-and from the way Qwan's eyebrows raised, he obviously believed him.

"We're going back to the room," Qwan called out over his shoulder as he tugged Danny out of the candelabra-laden chamber, viewing four frozen faces in response. "You ladies-and, er, Tucker-have fun. We'll be fine."

Somehow, Danny was left feeling a little bit more ill then before.

Qwan really HAD managed to get a good deal on this place. The intricately beaded lanterns looked Victorian-and they certainly looked expensive. But it's a little hard to admire decor when your nerves are threatening to eat a hole through your stomach walls.

The Jock turned back to Danny, satisfaction melting off his face once again.

"Hey, man, are you alright? Guess Travel in general doesn't agree with you, huh?"

Uncertain, he made to stretch an arm around Danny, though Danny uneasily sidestepped him, holding his stomach.

Great. Heartsick, and now a bit of that mango shrimp from dinner wanted to come knocking to say hello. Perfect way to start off a holiday.

Qwan suddenly seized his wrist, making the bewildered teen blanch somewhat, especially as a large hand clapped to his face. Immediately, Danny's cheeks colored, but the older boy in front of him didn't seem to notice the teen's discomfort.

"You're not feverish, or anything..." he said reluctantly, at last lowering his own slightly sweaty palm. "But you're changing colors like a traffic light, Danny."

He motioned his head down the hallway, expression hopeful.

"Maybe we oughta get you something from the Medical Wing. There's always one on here, y'know-I used to get lotsa bumps and scrapes when I'd run around on one of these boats as a kid."

Danny smiled-this time sincerely.

"Thanks. But maybe later. Right now, I don't think I can stomach much. Just give me an hour or two, and maybe I can get an aspirin or something."

Qwan still looked unconvinced, but he'd agreed, and the two began to head off towards their suite once again.

Eager to break through the uncomfortable silence, Danny had asked the inevitable question:

"So, how are you and Star doing? I heard you were still at Notre Dame, and she's still at St. Mary's across the street?"

Qwan actually stopped walking so quickly that Danny nearly rammed into him. Looking up, and rubbing his nose, Danny nonetheless flinched at the expression now on his schoolmate's face.

"Star?" Qwan asked, in a strange voice, proceeding to walk again, albeit much more slowly. "I don't know, actually...she and I...kinda broke up a couple months ago."

"That's awful! I'm sorry. I-"

Qwan cast Danny a kind smile, but shook his head.

"Nah. Don't be. It was inevitable. I'm on my own at college-I can't be the same guy she hung out with in High School: Second Best Upper Class. It's not me, y'know."

Qwan paused, looking miserable, before blurting out:

"I can't pretend I'm...something I'm not, y'know? Star might have been fine with that, but it was unfair to both of us. Star's pretty, but I...well, don't like her that way. Not sure if I ever did."

Danny slowly lay a hand on Qwan's shoulder as the boy suddenly became very interested in a nearby ming vase.

"Still sorry, Qwan. I thi-I know that much hurts. But it sounds like you did it for the right reasons."

Qwan managed a crooked attempt at a smile.

"Thanks, dude. And that actually comes off to something I wanted to ask you."

The two finally reached the suite door, but Qwan had turned to Danny, shoulder nonchalantly blocking the entrance. Everything was still-most passengers were topside tonight, enjoying the festivities. Danny could hear the continuous tick-tock of a grandfather clock somewhere in another room in the silence.

Qwan opened his mouth, shut it, and then opened it again.

"You see...I heard some things about you in college...just a, uh, uh, note from a little bird..."

Danny shivered all of a sudden. Had it just gotten colder in here? Maybe the maintenance staff just switched on the AC. He should have guessed it would have been so powerful on one of these fancy-pants-

"That you, um, might have been seeing someone, but no one was certain..."

It was really, really cold in here. Couldn't Qwan feel it? The boy was still wringing his large hands together, biting his lip. Somewhere, Danny felt a sense of foreboding slowly begin to creep over him, though he wasn't sure why.

"Thing is, I never got to tell you something while I was in High School. Thing is, I bullied you because I hoped that it'd...make things easier. My Dad already made his feelings felt on how he'd feel on...MY feelings...if they were...the wrong sort."

Danny could almost see his breath as Qwan stepped closer, uncomfortably aware that he could feel the guy breathing on him. His heart rate picked up as Qwan continued:

"But my parents aren't here right now, and even if my Dad hates me for this, even if my Mom's upset that I take up a different major, I have to make my own mistakes, you know? But I don't...really feel that telling you the truth."

Danny stared at him, uncomprehendingly, but his eyes enormous. Qwan took a look at them before exhaling, closing his eyes, and beginning to speak.

"Danny. The truth is is that I really like-"

But wrenching through the door, an intangible hand seized Danny by the scruff of his shirt, and all but tore him intangibly through the frame when Qwan finished speaking, leaving the upset and astonished boy alone in the hall.

"Ooof!"

Danny landed on the richly carpeted floor, gasping as he rolled onto his knees, dazedly peering around as he stumbled to his feet, readying himself into battle position.

But something from the darkness of the grandiose, unlit bedroom seized him, and pushed him sprawling back onto the floor. A pair of lips all but smashed themselves onto Danny's while a cool, gloved hand immediately snaked its way up his shirt.

Adrenaline still pumping through his veins, Danny nonetheless heard a growl from somewhere above him, and his blue eyes flickered in a panic in the darkness.

Something or someone ignored his flailing protests, and dragged the boy to the bed, now crushing him against something hard. And Danny thought Qwan had a metric grip...

A flash of scarlet. Danny looked up in astonishment, effortlessly phasing into his ghost form to make emerald flames burst into life in his gloved palm.

But all thoughts stopped dead when the face of his ex-lover loomed into his vision, expression torn between fury, relief, and...

Whatever it was, it was frightening. Danny flickered back, wincing as his captor's fingertips tightened painfully around his wrists, not allowing him to break the intense staredown that he was so obviously winning.

"V-Vlad?"


	3. Drabble Three: Asters

Drabble Three: Asters

The moonlight from the suite's port window was streaming in serenely, seemingly oblivious to the chaos it was carpeting. The moment his attacker had stopped assualting his lips, he reared his head back, glaring daggers at the flabbergasted boy he was pining below him like a captive butterfly.

Danny squirmed underneath the ghost, astonished blue eyes still meeting the irate red orbs hovering above him.

"V-Vlad?" he croaked, pushing uselessly against his ex-boyfriend's shoulders. Then, an angry scowl appeared on his face, and he immediately shoved against the man. For all the man gave, he might as well been shoving against a brick wall.

"What the _hell _are you _doing_?" the teen hissed, rolling his eyes as he failed once again to free himself. Before Vlad could seize him by the collar of his shirt, Danny phased his way through the expansive bed, and all but hurtled to the other side of the room, hurriedly phasing into his spectral form. Arms crossed, eyes narrowed, the two men stared at one another in silence. Then-

"Well?" Danny demanded, taking a step forwards, voice crackling with sarcasm. "I told you that I was leaving-so what the heck are you doing here? Don't you have _work_?"

Vlad rolled his eyes, ignoring the short pang of guilt he felt in his stomach.

"I believe the real question is, what the blazes are YOU doing?" he snapped, gloved hands slowly curling into shaking fists. "Daniel, I swear, the moment something goes wrong, instead of simply _calling_ me and _talking_ to me about it, you run off. How _mature_."

Outraged, Danny's scowl darkened.

"Interesting suggestion. But considering I already _tried _that a few times-and had your secretary tell me you were _holding_ all your calls until you could _'answer at Mr. Masters' greatest conveinence_,' that seemed kinda nil, don't you think?"

Vlad only glowered at him, but said nothing for a moment. Then-

"Does that give you the right to simply walk out and leave? For all I knew, you might have run out and done something foolish! Might I suggest that you _never answered_ your own phone, and if not for that obscure clue you left in the wastebasket, I never would have found you at all-"

"Find that difficult to believe, you stalker," scoffed Danny. "Even getting on a boat over 20,000 miles away from your castle isn't enough to deter you."

Vlad continued on as if Danny had not spoken.

"-and then, once I catch up with you, I find you cornered in a _vacant_ hallway by some-some-"

Plasmius grit his fangs, and trembled with fury, the ugly memory still replaying through his head.

"If that little brat takes a step towards you ever again, Daniel, so help me, his head will be the next trophy on my vacation home wall," he promised, taking two steps closer, eyeing the other halfa possesively.

Danny's jaw dropped. For a moment, he was too speechless to say anything. Then-

"Dude, just what the **_heck is wrong with you_**?" he shouted, sputtering in rage, not caring whether anyone outside heard the two or not. "I'm sorry, did I forget that just because I was in a relationship with you, I couldn't have any contact with the outside world? Besides, Qwan's a perfectly nice enough guy now, so I don't see why-"

Vlad flinched at the deadly word 'Was.' He had to calm down and speak rationally.

"Daniel, come now, even a child could see that the same arrogant teenager who bullied you in High School is _interested _in you! And just because you're angry doesn't give...doesn't give you the right to..."

He faltered; Danny was swelling in fury.

"I'll let you very well know that what I do on my own time is _my business_," Danny growled, brow furrowing as Vlad scoffed. "I'm not some _kid_ anymore, Vlad-besides, what do you think I'd do? Get mad, so hang on Qwan's arm like a falcon to get back at you?"

Silence. Vlad didn't answer. Danny's face palened, though his breathing and heartrate quickened.

"Is that what you really think of me?" he whispered.

He'd meant to sound angry, but his voice was cracked.

Finally, Vlad spoke up:

"If you were childish enough to come all the way here just to avoid me, I wouldn't be surprised," Vlad said quietly, looking away from Danny's mutinous form. "I just came here to spend some time with you-I didn't realize you'd be so angry. I'm sorry Daniel-terribly sorry. But I forgive you for leaving me," he said gently, turning around, and holding out his arms warmly.

"You simply need to learn to forgive yourself."

Meanwhile, in the opposite room, an elderly woman who'd been listening to the din with some interest lowered her hearing trumpet to her dresser with a sigh, and crossed the room to settle on her bed.

"You might want to take your hearing aid out, Albert dear," she commented to the flaxen haired man reading a book on his bed. He looked up absentmindedly.

"Mmm? What was that, Victoria, dear?"

"I was just saying that you might want to take out your hearing aid, hon. I think we're about to hear some screaming soon."

"You're a halfa," Vlad said insistently, concern appearing on his face as Danny turned around, face buried in his hands. Gliding across the room, he took ahold of Danny's shoulders, and twisted the ghost boy around. "As am I. I couldn't think it to be more obvious; we belong together. I lo-"

SMACK!

With the speed of a flashing, silver bullet, Danny's gloved hand whirled out, and struck Vlad across the face as hard as he could. Vlad staggered backwards, a gloved hand appearing over the tender, red spot beginning to appear on his cheek, and his eyes alighting with shock.

Danny lowered his hand, one still covering his eyes, teeth still grit in painful desperation. Deathly silence. Then, he lowered his hand, and Vlad was aghast to see Danny's eyes red with tears slowly oozing down his face.

"I never, ever want to see you again," he said hoarsely, voice crumbling at the last word. He turned away, hugging himself, as if trying to keep his heart from spilling out onto the floor.

"Get married. Get laid. Get out. I don't care. But we're finished. Forget you know my number-it's long gone now, anyways. In fact," Danny hissed, spinning around to meet Vlad's horrified gaze,

"Forget you know my name. Goodbye. The moment I see you again, the Fenton Thermos is coming out. I'll get my place ghostproofed-I don't care what I have to do. Just get out, and never, ever come back."

Eyes widening with realization at the terrible, terrible mistake he'd made, Vlad tried to pull Danny to him again, but the young halfa blindly punched out, accidentally sending a vase of blue and violet flowers smashing to the ground.

Faster then a gust of wind, Danny phased out of the room, hands over his eyes, faint sobs rippling out. Vlad let out a cry of his own and tried to grab him again-but too late. The teen had already phased through the door.

He was gone.

After frantically scouring the ship for hours, and winding up back in Daniel's abandoned suite, the empty hall heard a scream of anguish emanate from Room 107. After attacking a vase of irises and asters with a series of violent ectoblasts, he fell to his knees, buried his head in his knees, and let out a series of hopeless sobs.

He hurt.

He wanted to hurt someone. Or something. Qwan, himself, both, his company...he felt a searing hatred of the corporation now.

Or maybe that was just what he felt for himself. If Daniel did not wish to be found, he would not be-though Vlad would eagerly tear the world apart, regardless.

Casting dull red eyes around the room, they fell upon a flower still surrounded by broken china, floating in a sad puddle of water in the wreckage. Face blank, Vlad slowly picked it up, feeling the shame of helplessness take over him.

A violet aster. Springtime flowers...a light, warm breeze, a clean scent...

_"Vlad, we gotta stop meeting like this."_

_The teen pouted as the man placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, rolling his eyes and pretending to wipe it off. "Dude, I swear to God, if you give me cooties..."_

_The billionaire only smirked as Danny took a sip of tea, glad that he'd tipped the waiter for a spindly table behind a nearby marble statue, surrounded by a grove of honeysuckle and purple asters._

_"Considering our location, I'd say it's a definite improvement over the last one. Making out with you a dark corner in the library is sinfully attractive, dear boy, but-"_

_Danny plastered a fingertip over Vlad's mouth, laughing._

_"It's bad enough that that old couple told us to get a room when we were on that park bench, Vlad. Let's not repeat that. As far as anyone's concerned, you're just a normal creep taking out a kid to lunch."_

_Vlad had swatted at him._

_"I thought the story was that I was your Uncle?"_

_Danny only shrugged._

_"Can't remember. Though if you like, I can introduce you to the waitress as that nice man who offered me sweets and happy hour if I came for a visit..."_

_Vlad scoffed._

_"Which would then, of course, prompt the police to come, and thus unwrap Vlad Masters as a gay pedophile," he muttered, dropping his voice to a whisper as a waitress wheeled a tea cart full of fancy cheesecakes and tarts nearby. "Perfect. Absolutely the headline I feel like reading tomorrow."_

_The two had agreed to meet in a small, Victorian-style, tea garden restaurant, which even Daniel could hardly deny it was lovely. Vlad adjusted his dark sunglasses, and raised an eyebrow when he saw Danny smiling at him._

_"What?"_

_"The shades make you look kind of hot."_

_"Everything makes me look hot, dear boy. I thought you would have realized that by now."_

_Danny rolled his eyes._

_"Yeah, well, they're not doing much for your modesty. But you sure this is all you're doing to wear? Just a polo, jeans, and shades?" He sounded worried. "The paparazzi have been hanging around your place for YEARS, Vlad-if they get something on you at last, they'll go to town."_

_Vlad snorted, and took a bite of his apple tart, wiping his mouth neatly with a linen napkin shortly after._

_"I could honestly care less what they think, little badger. And no self-respecting reporter would dare to stalk me-my security center does a lot more then simply ward off ghosts. And, in any case, I have enough influence to destroy their pathetic little lives and their careers." Vlad smirked, and wiped off a bit of ice cream from the boy's nose, tentaively licking his finger._

_"So why do you go along with this charade to begin with?"_

_Vlad only shrugged, looked at the flowers surrounding the table, and picked up a dark blue-violet aster, twirling it carelessly around his fingertips._

_"Because with this way, there's less trouble. I don't draw a crowd, I confess it's rather fun to masquerade-and here, I get to spend time with my favorite flower."_

_He handed the small flower to Danny, who slowly accepted it in surprise._

_"Oh. And the Asters too, I suppose."_

_Danny's cheeks grew pink, but the boy simply laughed._

_"Do you have ANY idea just how much of a cornstar you are?"_

_Vlad leaned back in his seat, sexy little smirk beginning to curve the corners of his mouth._

_"Mmm. Finish off your dessert, dear boy, and we just might get an idea..."_

The ghost was frozen over the fallen flower, holding it tentaively with two gloved hands. Then, suddenly, he stood up, and in a blink of an eye, disappeared.

Just an idea.

Maybe a hopeless hope, but the older halfa was clutching at straws, now, and he was desperate.

Reappearing high above the cruise ship, he flew off into the night sky, casting a concerned look down at the ship below him, and doubled his speed.

Hopefully, his love story with the boy he loved wouldn't end where it had begun-with flowers.


	4. Drabble Four: Dolce de Leche

Drabble Four: Dolce de Leche

* * *

><p><em>Okay, so right now, we've got a lot of angst and fluff: Anuff. Or Flangst. *Shrugs* The action starts heating up on the islands next chapter...*Laughs maniacally.* Don't get used to the lovey-dovey aspect-some serious crap is about to go down!<em>

_An interesting fact that will mean absolutely nothing to you before you read: Tiramisu means 'Pick me up' or, more literally, 'Please bring me closer to heaven.' ^-^ What do you suppose THAT means?_

_Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own, so please don't sue!_

* * *

><p>He'd put as much distance as he possibly could between the awful, awful creature still lurking in the suite, immediately transforming intangible so that the teen could continue running through walls. It was quite lucky that he did so; his eyesight was made a blurred, white haze by the tears that continued to stream down his face.<p>

But he was laughing. The horrible smile on his face seemed plastered on by a sick, careless painter. He could hear a strange ripping noise that seemed torn between sobs and hysterical laughter.

Was that coming from himself? He didn't know, and didn't care. He focused on the laughing, even as Vlad's screams became a faint ringing in his ears...

The moment he'd found a deserted enough corridor full of locked, unbooked rooms, Danny hurtled through the wall, immediately phased to human form, and crawled into an enormous cabinet space in one of the Suite bathrooms, carefully closing the door behind him, and sealing himself into safe, comfortable darkness, the sound of his heartbeat ridiculously loud. He'd plastered his hands over the organ, willing it to silence.

It ached, and Danny silently marveled that the appendage was still functioning. How can something split still be alive, still mocking him by the second with pulses that continued to say, _'You're alive, you're alive, you're alive?' _

It was safe to say that right now, he duly wished he wasn't. Not for pain like this.

Danny hugged his knees and continued to cry, doing his best to do so silently. He thought he could hear Vlad shouting in panic from another room, and he unconsciously curled into a tighter ball.

Vlad's sonar-like ghost echolocation would pick up the only other specter on this stupid ship in a second. If he could just hide in human form for awhile, (Valiant halfa he was) the billionaire eventually had to go away. And then...

...and then, the two would simply pretend they never knew each other. Danny would forget Friday evening dates, late night and early afternoon calls, soft caresses, murmured promises, gentle kisses, words of adoration, and the sensation of being held.

Hating himself, the tears began to silently flicker down his flushed face like pearls in the dark, scattering on his hands. Suppressing a moan, he lay down on his side, knees still curled to his chest, and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut, exhaling as the older halfa's cries began to grow fainter. They'd be back, of course, because Vlad was too stubborn to allow him to spitefully leave him, but by then, the man would grow irritated, and his search half-hearted.

THEN, Vlad would start sending his vultures to wreck up Danny's dorm. And THEN would he start sending nasty messages, and THEN he'd spill the boy's secrets to the public. Of course, Danny didn't know if the man would go so very far as to spill his identity, considering Danny already held that Joker Card as well-but the possessive and arrogant man who'd thrown the teen to the bed like a sack of potatoes wasn't someone Danny knew anymore.

Or wanted to know at all.

Maybe he'd send humiliating news of Danny to the Press-of a stupid teenage boy who'd attempted to win over a middle aged male billionaire. No...no, the Paparazzi was only ever interested in what Vlad did...maybe he'd simply try to frame Danny Phantom as a rapist or a thief or a criminal or a...

Laughing hoarsely at himself, Danny stared dully into space, eyes red.

God, he needed to get over himself. Such a silly, overdramatic, teenage girl! He was an idiot! An absolute idiot!

Vlad would most likely do nothing at all-other then descend down yet another path of schemes and debauchery with a line of mistresses, or something. And Danny would move on with the rest of his life with the memory of the one who'd gotten away in his mind.

Time would supposedly heal the new crater in his chest. Fortunately, it'd kill him, as well.

"Vlad..." Danny croaked, half terrified, half wishing the billionaire would find him, drag him out of hiding, and again try to sollicit him with kisses.

No. Nooooo. He couldn't stand the haughty man's despicable pride anymore! He wasn't an object that could be bought or bribed over! He had feelings! He would have made every effort to stay by Vlad's side if the man had had no choice other then to work every single day of the week with murderous hours. He would have gladly toiled alongside him doing whatever humiliating or exhausting labor he could find, for as long as the man needed him to.

If they'd shared some miserable little one room flat in the big city, Danny would have adored him still.

If they had maybe one day off a month to spend time together, Danny would have cherished the other halfa still. If he had to work past retirement age, God dammit, you had to believe he would have, for Vlad's sake.

Every fiber of Vlad's being he had so unbiasedly and unreservedly loved, but the truth was, Vlad could have retired at the age of 35, if he'd wanted to! Now he was his parents' age, and still building his empire across the world. When Danny DID visit his office these days, he was normally brushed off, or maybe given five minutes of half-hearted attention before he was gently steered to the door with a simple peck on the forehead.

Bottom Line: It was shaming to have Vlad attempt to buy his way back into Danny's good wishes with a spectacular new piece of technology that would have made Tucker drool, or for him to keep postponing picnics and holidays all in the name of WORK. And money. Greed is never satisfied, and Vlad was greedier then most people could get. After getting ghost powers, he'd dedicated his life to building billions, winning Maddie as his wife, slaughtering Jack in revenge, and building power in the Ghost Zone's underworld.

The guy obviously had a safe where most people had a heart, and he, Danny, had more then played the fool. If he'd loved Danny as much as he'd claimed to love Maddie, why hadn't the man tried to stay more by his side-or at least make an earnest communicate with him?

Was he simply his Mother's substitute? He couldn't win Maddie, and he couldn't win Danny as a son...

...so he'd chosen to have Danny as a romantic partner instead, killing two birds with one stone?

Danny buried his face in a soft hand towel, and, forcing himself to smile, started sobbing as the wind whipped the waves outside the craft, churning a sorrowful lullaby.

* * *

><p>"Dude. You look awful."<p>

Danny stirred at the fresh fruit Qwan had insisted on getting him from the buffet line, and tried to crack a grin. The result looked more like a grimace.

The party had finally settled down for breakfast outside on the pergola on the luxury ship, which was pleasant, considering the salty air was stirring up a gentle breeze in the air while everyone ate. There was the sound of laughter, the continuous scraping of cutlery and china, and much contentment as weary travel-goers tucked in, settling happily into the second day of their vacation.

Only Qwan's table was rather quiet, as several pairs of eyes were on Danny's. The boy's blue eyes were downcast, with onyx hollows circling them. His skin was decidedly paler then normal, and he looked a great deal sorrier then he did last night, which was truly saying something.

Tucker thumped his best friend on the shoulder, trying to resend a spark of vigor to his friend's now dead eyes, mouth full of food.

"Mmmrph-Da-Danny, dude, Telegram to Danny, telegram to Danny, stop being such a creepy space cadet," he joked, shaking the boy's rigid posture in his attempt to loosen it. "Danny, I've seen you look cheerier around the holidays. Why don't you tell us what's really up? Vlad trying to bust you up again?"

Danny had at last taken a small bite of mango, but gagged; Qwan had had to thump him harshly on the back to clear his windpipe. Curious, the Asian sent Tucker a confused look.

"Vlad? Who's Vlad?"

Valerie scoffed, and stirred her iced tea around with more force then strictly necessary, violently stabbing a cherry with a straw.

"Punk. Absolute punk. Right Dani?"

Danielle's face had clouded, but she was still sipping Orange Juice, so she only nodded. While Val had playfully began ruffling the indignant teen's hair, Qwan turned to Sam, who was coldly staring into space, violet eyes narrowed.

"He's this jerk who keeps hanging around Danny's family. He's got it in for Danny's Mom, though he's always harassing Danny, too. He's a selfish, arrogant waste of space."

Qwan's eyes immediately flickered to Danny's fingertips tightening around his napkin, but said nothing. Tucker pulled out a pair of shades to sit over his sunglasses, looking troubled.

"Yeah. He's a really rich guy, so we can't even get the cops on him...for a number of reasons," he added sourly, and there was a wave of nods from the table, pardoning Danny and Qwan. "He never quits, and he's seriously screwed up...hey, Danny, can I finish your eggs?"

Qwan rolled his eyes.

"Dude, there's a buffet line over there. One you held up for like, ten minutes filling up all those plates."

Tucker sent Qwan an injured look as he carefully folded a pancake four times, stabbed it with his fork, and stuffed the entire thing into his mouth. The Asian looked both aghast and slightly impressed.

"Dude. Do you have, like, a bottomless hole for a stomach, or something? Where do you keep it all?"

"Storage," the Genius said smugly, helping himself to a large spoonful of potatoes. But Qwan's eyes had flickered back to Danny's miserable form, and a glimmer of understanding entered his expression for the first time.

"What Storage? Cold? Or for Winter Hibernation? But Danny, you're a pile of bones, and your toast is cold. Let's grab some more."

Qwan stood up, and tugged the stunned boy to his feet. Forcing another grin on his face, Danny started to shake his head again.

"N-No. Really, I'm fine, you don't have to-"

"C'mon," Qwan growled, seizing Danny by the arm and pulling the startled halfa away from their surprised friends, leaving them on the swaying deck.

The College Student dragged Danny past the buffet line to the deserted bathroom. After impatiently pushing the other boy in, Qwan stepped inside, and carefully locked the door. Danny automatically took a few steps back, feeling nervous again.

Escape would be easy, if only Qwan couldn't see him, but that would still be...

With a sigh, the other boy turned around, putting a halt in Danny's thoughts. After surveying him for a moment through narrowed, almond-shaped eyes, Qwan exhaled once again, letting his shoulders sag.

"Okay. What did he do to you?"

Danny's face went blank from shock. He tried to compose it into a cool mask, which, judging by Qwan's unchanging scowl, wasn't working very well.

"What? Who's 'he?'"

Qwan let out a huff, and stepped closer, and closer.

"Danny, you're not just sick. You're hurting. Who hurt you? Was it this Vlad guy? Our old Mayor Masters Vlad?"

Mouth falling open, Danny tried to take another step back, and found himself against the tiled wall.

"I-no, you, uh, you've got it all-"

"I have connections, Danny," promised Qwan, knuckles turning white as his hands curled into fists from the good o' days in High School. "Maybe none like Mr. Masters', but enough so that I can get close enough to kick this guy's ass. Has he been seriously trying to hurt your Mom? Or you?"

Danny opened his mouth to protest, but no noise came out. Angry and flustered, he shook his head.

"No! No, no, and no again! It's got nothing to do with...with him. I'm fi-I, well, yeah, something's been wrong..."

It was no use trying to lie. He wearily closed his eyes, feeling Qwan's steady gaze still on him. Drawing breath, and telling himself to stop being such a baby, he steadied his voice, and tried to cool it to sounding aloof and uncaring.

"...I just had a bad break-up," he confessed, glad that his now prickling eyes were still closed. "With someone I really, really cared about-but I just found out they care squat about what happens to me. In fact, I'm probably just a replacement for someone they actually DID love, a long, long time ago."

He paused. His voice sounded robotic, though it was starting to shake again.

"Actually, I'm not sure they EVER stopped loving that person," he confessed, ashamed when a tear glimmered free. Scrubbing it aside nonchalantly, Danny opened his eyes, and suddenly found his shoes very interesting. "I was just a cheap consolation prize you could buy over. I'm just not...I can't..."

He didn't dare say anything else. Qwan swore, and sullenly turned to give the door an unfriendly kick.

"God, seriously? Danny, I never took you for the type to date an absolute IDIOT."

Danny's eyes flashed green, and fury blazed inside him. Before he could contradict Qwan, however, the boy started ranting.

"I mean, COME ON! God, what a sick sack of shit, to lead you on like that! At least I never tried to pretend Star was someone else, but c'mon, who DOES that? I hope this guy gets his stomach entrails eaten by boars, hit by a truck, and his tongue ripped out to paint cynaide! Bastard."

Qwan scoffed, dark amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Selfish old prick...if I...if he even KNEW what he had...no, no. That makes it even worse. Disgusting. He can rot in hell."

Equally aghast, furious, and astonished, Danny shook his head.

"No! It's not like that-I...wait, how'd you know it was a _he_?" the halfa demanded.

Qwan didn't respond: instead, he simply looked at his trembling fists, and swung one into the wall.

SMASH!

"Qwan! What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you trying to break something?" Danny cried, as the taller boy withdrew his hand from the now cracked plaster, wincing as he flexed his fingers.

"I'd like to break that moron's face, to be honest. Lucky creep probably got to hold you, didn't he?"

Danny's stare immediately made Qwan turn a darker shade of red.

"I'm-I'm, uh, sorry," he apologized immediately, throwing up his hands. "It's just, I, um, well, y'see, uh, uh, uh-"

Now Danny rolled his eyes, looking sincerely annoyed.

"Qwan. I-"

Qwan seized Danny by the shoulders once again, his expression desperate as he breathlessly rambled:

"No! If you stop me now, I won't be able to finish! Just like last night! Fenton, it sounds like this guy seriously screwed you over, and I know you probably don't like me much, and I know I used to trip you in the hallways, and I know I messed up your Art project in third grade, and I know that I used to shove you into a dumpster, and I know I stole your lunchbox and threw it in a tree, and I know it's a bad idea to catch people on the rebound, and I think I'm creeping you out right now judging by the way you're looking at me, but the truth is-"

Qwan took several labored breaths, which was lucky, considering he looked ready to pass out at any given second.

"Danny," he said sincerely, much to the halfa's shock. "I _like_ you. I like you so much."

Okay. At any moment, someone would pop out of the shadows and tell him that he was on TV for Candid Camera. That, or Qwan would laugh at him, shout "April Fools!" and shove him into the nearby trash bin. Danny hiccuped, and let out a soft chuckle, trying to slide his shoulders out from under Qwan's hold. The other boy relented almost immediately.

Silence. Qwan's expression was fierce, but also imploring, much like the expression Vlad had had when he'd confronted Danny last night. Except no rage. Danny shuddered, and then, finally spoke up after a few minutes had raced by-

"Um...Qwan?"

The boy nodded immediately, never once breaking gaze. Danny glanced down at his shoes once again, face rosy.

"I...well...thank you?" Danny squeaked, face truly flaming now. Oh, he didn't know what to do! "It's just a really...well, I'm...I'm...just kind of...surprised, is all."

Qwan looked upset.

"I know. I know it's sudden, and I know you've just gotten out of a bad break-up, and I know that I've-"

"Qwan," Danny interrupted, hoping that the other boy remembered breathing after a sentence was rather important. He exhaled, and tried to speak as rationally as he could.

"Qwan...to all those things, I'm gonna have to give it a yes," he said tiredly, drawing a hand over his bangs. Oooh, but he did NOT need this right now...

"Yes, this is kind of...out of left field for me. Yes, I just broke up with someone. And yes, having you tell me this is a...a little weird, but I don't really know if I want to pursue a relationship right now."

That was the nice answer. The honest answer? _"I think you've improved marvelously, but I'm still hopelessly in love with the jerk who jilted me, and I'd rather nurse my remains for several weeks on end rather then start a new relationship with someone who used to hold my head in the janitor's bucket, and use my hair to mop the floor."_

Qwan's eyes flickered down.

"Well...yeah, I totally understand, though I'm hoping that one day, you might give me a chance. I don't want anything from you, Danny, other then that much."

"Why?" Danny found himself asking, his voice hushed with disbelief.

Qwan's shoulders heaved.

"I don't want to do the whole, 'You're gay and I'm gay, so let's go out back and make some noise' kind of thing. I like you for being you. I like the way you talk, the way you laugh, and the way you order the same thing at Nasty Burger every time you visit."

Oh, Candid Camera was seriously overdue on showing up. But Qwan went on, voice sincere:

"I like the way you take to things, and I like the wave you tuck your hair behind your right ear when you're thinking hard. I like the fact that you're so nice to me after all the crap I put you through. I like the kind of books you read-I went through your knapsack in Freshman year after Dash and I finished playing Keepaway with it. I like your blank expression..."

He trailed off, voice becoming dreamy.

"...and I love how cute you can be."

_Cute?_

Qwan's grin seemed ready to burst from his face. "I want to be able to meet you someplace familiar for a date. I want to be able to compliment you, while you tease me. I want to spoil you rotten, and I want to take you places. I want to introduce you to my mother, and maybe one day to my Dad, even if it's not as my 'boyfriend.' I want us to see some really gushy, terrible movies, and I want us to be able to complain about how horrible they are afterwards, and mock all the actors for taking horse tranquilizer injections for their biceps. I want to take you someplace really nice and unusual for dinner, and I'd like us to be able to try weird things that kind of make us want to puke before we order normal stuff, and then order dessert. Then, we realize we both ordered what the other one wanted, and we trade before heading home to a warm bed and-"

Qwan tucked a hand behind his head, which was as scarlet as Danny's was. Qwan exhaled, and then smiled at Danny.

"Yeah...pretty corny stuff. But that's what I'd love to have with you. I'd love for you to know more about me-and there's so much more I'd like to know about you."

He took another step closer. Frozen, Danny allowed him to, though his muddled thoughts weren't really giving much leeway. Again, there was the warm weight of Qwan's hands on his shoulders.

"I'm not saying you have to give me an answer today, Danny. Maybe not tomorrow, either-or even a few months from now. Just, uh, give me some thought, okay?"

Qwan smiled goofily. Danny's mouth dropped.

"I come with no baggage, dude. I can promise you that much. You don't have to be anything for me other then YOU."

And with that, Qwan pressed a light, butterfly kiss on Danny's forehead, stood back, smiled, and left, without another word.

For a moment, Danny just stood there.

Then, he at last slid down against the wall to a sitting position, seeing nothing, and feeling nothing, though the chain around his neck with the bloodred stone did carry quite a tingling sensation against his flesh, now.

_"Geez, Vlad. With all this food, I can swear you're fattening me up to eat me."_

_Across the table, the billionaire let out a derisive snort._

_"'Fattening you up?' Oh, please. I can barely pinch you, child-what kind of food are you eating at school, if anything?"_

_Danny smirked from across the table._

_"Let's see...ramen noodles," he said nonchalantly, counting off on his fingers, not missing his lover's cringe, "Ramen noodles, ramen noodles, occasionally some juice and a granola bar when I feel like being luxurious, and ramen noodles."_

_He had to laugh as Vlad sadly shook his head, and murmured, "I'll have you move in with me yet, my boy. I don't care if I have to wait until your senior year of college; your diet somehow pains me more then you."_

_Danny only smiled._

_"I already practically live at your home, Vlad." he gestured around the fine features of Vlad's luxurious dining room table, lit by soft candlelight and twinkling with posh, Victorian silverware. "I mean, I came through a Ghost Portal in a graveyard just for dinner."_

_Vlad twirled the few remains of his pasta around on his fork, looking unsatisfied._

_"Yessss," he drew out, pouting when he noticed Danny chuckling. "But I'd still much rather you came to live with me. You'd save thousands on dorm expenses, I can ravish you as much as I wish, and I wouldn't have to worry about the fact that you're scarcely eating a proper, tasteful meal every day."_

_"You sound like my mother. Except for the ravishing part."_

_Vlad let this one go unnoticed._

_"Still, I was so glad that you made it, my boy," he said gently, lifting up his silver goblet in a toast. "I'm terribly sorry that I couldn't spend the ENTIRE afternoon with you." he sighed heavily. "Today, of all days..."_

_Blushing, Danny glanced away, a small smile in his azure eyes._

_"I was just glad that we had the evening together. The park was really nice, and this-" he gestured to the remains of the main course of their Italian meal, "Was great. Tastes better then the pasta we had in Italy. I'm stuffed."_

_Vlad only smirked, making Danny quip an eyebrow. Carelessly, he rang the silver bell by his plates, and two maids bustled in with two golden platters. After laying one down beside both halfas, they curtsied, and bustled off. Flustered, Danny lifted the lid off of his, Vlad's pleased smile reflected off of the gleaming exterior._

_"This is...like, our time in Tuscany..."_

_"Mmm-hmm." Vlad leaned back in his thronelike seat, looking content. "Dulce de leche. Sweets for a sweetheart."_

_Danny flustered, then snorted quietly, before he started shaking his head. "You have GOT to be looking this crud up..."_

_"On the contrary, my boy. I plan and research two hours in advance and carefully script the entire flow of the conversation." Vlad rolled his cobalt eyes, picked up his spoon, and dipped it into the contents of Danny's dessert, teasingly ducking Danny's playful swat._

_"You mentioned my wanting to eat you? Then you best hurry up and finish your dessert, little badger, because I'm looking forwards to quite a treat tonight."_

_It turned out that yet another dish was to accompany the sweet, creamy confection: Tiramisu. And in Danny's slice, glimmering contently in the sweet frosting, lay Vlad's heavy college ring._

_Just as Danny finished his last spoonful of the exquisite, sinfully sweet dessert, Vlad leaned his forehead against Danny's, making the teen blush and scowl before the man licked off the remains of the chocolate still on the tip of Danny's nose before moving onto his lips._

_It wasn't too long before the two were in a gentle battle for dominance, and even less longer for Danny to worm his way into his lover's arms, faintly feeling a pair of lanky arms wrap tightly around his torso before he was dragged through the floor, still ravaging and being ravaged. He remembered being playfully tossed on Vlad's soft down comforters before the man he loved started crawling after him on his knees, panting and smirking, sexy silver hair strewn over his now bare and flushed shoulders, dark blue eyes blazing._

_He remembered a pair of lips accosting his own once again, and the adoring and sweet touches began once again, Vlad breaking the kiss once during that night to whisper:_

_"Happy Valentine's Day, Daniel."_

_Before happily re-engaging to run his fingers through the boy's dark and spiky hair, lovingly beginning to accost his neck again, still looking for traces of the dessert that might have splashed on him. Danny had only held him tightly, ring still gleaming on his finger as he pressed against the man passionately, limbs tangled in a hopeless mess, to the extent that it was impossible to tell where he ended, and Vlad began._

What did he do?

Knowing that he would not sleep, despite his exhaustion, Danny spent the day being as active as possible, desperate to prove to his friends that he was indeed having a good time-and also desperate to distract _himself._

But, it appeared, he couldn't be distracted, as the inevitable question kept popping up in his head about every twenty minutes:

What WAS he going to do?

Playing arcade games with Tucker, Danny wondered. Having a go with dice in the Casino (No good, but still enjoyable) with Danielle, he wondered. Taking photos and chatting with Valerie on the deck, he wondered. Diving into the sea and discovering that the ship didn't drop anchor in the Atlantic Ocean for a reason, he wondered.

Qwan seemed content to leave Danny to his thoughts, though the boy seemed to be every where the embarassed halfa looked. Every time the two made eye contact, the Asian sent him an abashed smile, a nod, or an occasional wave.

And every time, Danny would drop his head, blushing furiously.

Vlad had screwed him over.

And if his heart still continued to throb like this, he might be feeling the effects for a very, very long time.

At last, excusing himself from dinner at the Captain's table that evening, Danny hid himself in the bathroom, and the barely-holding dam that he'd built for his emotions burst, and his mask slowly peeled off his face. The mirror reflected a face twisted with pain back at him. It took him a few moments for him to realize that those were his grotesque features.

He'd wept with loneliness and shame for ten minutes, and had finally forced the reluctant bridge back up to block the flow before he couldn't stop. Washing his face six or seven times before he was satisfied, he returned to Dinner under the candelabras, feeling not much better.

He didn't really want to go out with Qwan.

Did he?

Sure, the guy seemed pretty nice, now. All things considering, from what he'd seen of the boy's changes so far, there was no real reason for the guy NOT to. The relationship Qwan described sounded sweet, loving, and...easy. So very easy. A relationship where you didn't even have to think about much. There could be mutual interest blossomed into something more.

But this was too soon; and something made Danny seriously uneasy. It couldn't be Qwan himself-though there was just ONE thing in this web of perfection that struck a dark chord. The idea of thinking Qwan as 'dark' even when he'd been a school jock and bully was laughable, but there was a gut instinct that didn't want him near this guy.

Maybe it was the fact that he'd never fancied himself a rebounder, maybe it was the fact that his and Vlad's relationship had once been Qwan's ideal romance-if only that story had been a fraction of what he'd felt for the other hybrid. What do you do when you've loved someone more then you ever thought you could?

Could it be possible to love someone else quite that much? Maybe he was just an absurd, lovesick twit-but he'd never loved anyone or anything quite as much as the older hybrid. For awhile, he'd believed Vlad felt the same.

He and his friends had stayed up late watching a movie-Danny was hard-pressed to find something that didn't have SOME form of romance in it. Romance! Did this whole, stupid, friggin' world think of nothing other then it? It was starting to choke him.

The film had been something about exploding penguins or an evil little group of British Schoolchildren-he hadn't been paying very much attention. After wishing everyone a goodnight, he'd blearily stumbled off to his bedroom, knowing that he would not sleep.

But the door to his suite room would not open. After a few failed attempts at wrenching the thing open, the teen finally phased through it, figuring that the maid had accidentally locked the door, or something.

For a moment, he'd thought he'd walked into the wrong room: The entire place was absolutely carpeted in dark blue flowers. Blinking, and flicking the light on, Danny saw an ocean of what lay before him:

Asters.

Asters everywhere; there was no inch of floor left uncovered by the vases and pots, his bed had not been spared, nor had any appliance in his suite had been untouched. Flying over the mess, a dazed Danny pulled back his shower curtain-only to find more of the delicate blue flowers waiting inside the bathtub. The overwhelming scent of the flowers was actually making him dizzy.

Convinced that this was some practical joke-HOPING it was some joke, because if Qwan had placed these in here, he was really screwed-Danny spotted a patch of white lying on his pillowcase, and snatched it up.

The all too familiar, spidery script greeted him, and he all but tore the envelope to pieces:

_My dear little badger,_

_While I've played the fool for so many instances of my life's performance, I have never, EVER done so more perfectly then I have done last night, though my behavior towards you these past few weeks is fair competition. Please know, my darling one, that while I'm absolutely sickened with myself, and no imploring nor groveling at your knees (Though I feel inclined to forsake my dignity) will make amends anytime soon, I still love you dearly, you, the best thing that's ever happened to this sad, walking shadow._

_I will not attempt to force myself on you ever again, as this is simply inexcusable. Nor will I attempt to buy you back, as I realize now that no amount of money I have is enough to 'earn' you, keep you, or coerce you into being by my side. I'm sorry for perverting our relationship, and will hope in earnest that you will see fit to see me once more. While I will be glad to become whatever you want, I wish to do so in the hopes that it will allow me to have you by my side. I don't think I can stomach the idea of having anyone else._

_These flowers, my lovely, are only your due. And in the next few days we have on this craft, my child, I intend to show you but a fraction of my feelings. Should you wish me to disappear from your life, I shall, though I'm far too 'creepy,' as you put it, to stop watching at the shadows. I won't dispute you another chance of happiness should you find it, though I will do my earnest to keep trying to point you in my direction. Look at it this way: If I didn't, I'd be doing both of us a dishonest service!_

_Devotedly Yours,_

_Vlad_

Amazed, Danny turned the letter over, not daring to believe it. Then, a knock from the door disrupted his fractured thoughts, and the confused boy flew over to the frame, pushed back a few of the flowers as to make himself a little space, phased into Danny Fenton, and slowly opened the door. It couldn't be Vlad-the man said he'd disappear, and he could just phase his way in, anyway.

A concierge bowed when Danny opened the door, and presented a small platter to the puzzled teen. "Room service for Daniel Fenton."

Bemused, Danny took the tray, trying to remember anytime in the past two days that he'd ordered anything at all.

"But I didn't order any-"

"A Cruise patron ordered it for you, young sir, with a message enclosed. The bill's already been paid for. Good evening."

And, without another word, he was off bustling down the hallway, leaving a stammering Danny alone in the hall. Rolling his eyes, Danny shut the door, and slowly took the lid off, praying that some ghost hadn't tracked him out here, and was trying to send a nice Family Fun Cruiseline Doomsday explosive into his hands.

But no: the tray fell to the floor with a clatter, and Danny's eyes widened upon beholding the small item. Eyes watering with reluctant tears, the teen slowly shook his head, torn between fury, exasperation-and a whole lot of something else while he took the small card beside the little plate of Dolce de Leche, and read:

_By the way, who eats fruit as a dessert on Vacation? Don't make me start sneaking food on your plate._

_Love, Vlad_


	5. Drabble Five: Lullaby

Drabble Five: Lullaby

_"Daniel, I don't understand."_

_Vlad had been carelessly flicking through one of the Astronomy textbooks on Danny's shelf, but now, the billionaire's cool cobalt eyes flickered to his young lover on his small bed….who was determinedly looking away at him. Snapping the textbook shut in one swift, sharp motion, Vlad approached Danny in the cramped dorm room, hand on his hip, brow creased. _

_"Why did you introduce me as your 'friend' to your roommate? And…for that matter, your other peers?"_

_Danny wearily looked up for a fraction of a second, expression faintly annoyed before he bent down over his history book again, chin in his hands. _

_"Well, what was I supposed to say? 'This is my boyfriend Vlad Masters, whom I've been dating illegally for the past six months-'"_

_Vlad scoffed._

_"You're of age now, Daniel-surely it couldn't make much difference-"_

_"'-who was named one of the world's most influential people, and is a closet homosexual? Oh, wait, **sorry,** didn't I forget to tell you, highly homophobic peers? I'm gay for someone twenty years older than I am?'" the boy asked irritably, his voice crackling ever so slightly. Biting his lip, he pretended not to notice the look of outrage and hurt on his boyfriend's face, and flipped to another chapter, eyes swimming. _

_Vlad's hot, pale, twitching hands slowly pulled into fists. _

_"You make it all sound so hideous, Daniel. Is the concept of our relationship that revolting to you?"_

_Danny immediately whipped his head up, furious._

_"How is what I've done any different than what you did at the opera the other night?" he demanded, and now, it was Vlad's turn to become intensely interested in the shag carpeting. "I went to that depressing play because you begged me to; told me it'd be one of the most bittersweet, life-changing stories I could ever witness. THEN, your business partner walks in with his wife during the Third Act-"_

_"Daniel, don't dare to make this about me!" the angry man flustered desperately. This-this entire wretched conversation is about the flippant way you-"_

_"And suddenly, not only are you spending the entire play talking and laughing with some dude smoking this horrible cigar, but you introduce me as your NEPHEW, all the while that fat lady in the fur coat was eyeing you like a piece of taffy! THEN, you walk out with him before the last act, and I'm left crying over the fact that Pietro died all alone in this horrible place next to a woman who keeps yawning, talking about her cats, and her aching feet, which hurt so much because she kept insisting on squeezing them into designer shoes three sizes TOO SMALL for her! And then," Danny stormed, slamming his own textbook shut, "The play ends, and I have to wait for you in the lobby after closing time for **two hours** before you FINALLY remember me-WHEN YOU'RE HALFWAY HOME IN YOUR LIMOUSINE!"_

_Vlad flinched, as though the boy had hit him._

_"I already told you how sorry I was for that. I called you, and told you to wait, but by the time that I'd arrived, you'd flown home. You wouldn't pick up the phone-I had to keep calling you for three days! Today I finally decide I'd had enough, and came to see you."_

_Vlad's already dark eyes narrowed, growing truly cold. _

_"Then, I find you with some prat of a girl hanging off of you, giggling her silly little head off-"_

_"Oh, for Pete's sa-Vlad, she means nothing to me! Nothing! Sure, Amy's really nice, but I've already turned her down twice, and she seems content to stay friends-"_

_"Friends!" Vlad scoffed. "Oh, please. Such a brainless girl!"_

_"So, people who admittedly LIKE me or my company are morons, Vlad?" Danny snapped, his eyes flashing green for a fraction of a second. _

_"They are if they keep insisting on touching you. I won't allow-"_

_Finally, Danny snapped. _

_"You. Won't. Allow. Is that it? Am I just property to you?"_

_Vlad rounded on him._

_"I don't know. Am I simply nothing to you? A meaningless experiment for you before you marry a girl you must flirt around beside my back?"_

_Immediately, Vlad regretted his words; taking another, angry glance at the boy, he was stunned to see the teen's face burning, and his blue eyes swimming in tears. Ashamed, Vlad only stood there in awkward silence for a moment, not at all knowing what to do. Was he supposed to feel smug-victorious? _

_If this was satisfaction, he didn't like it. _

_He only felt a deep pang resound inside the depths of his heart, and stomach. Danny was glancing down at his interlocked fingers, face pale, eyes still glittering with tears._

_"You know, Vlad," he said softly. "A good friend stabs you in the front."_

_He drew away, curling up into a small ball on his bed with his textbook in hand. _

_"Now get out of here, if you don't mind. I have to study." _

_"Daniel, I'm sorry-"_

_"I have to study." _

_"I didn't mean-"_

_"Go away." _

_"But I-" _

_A textbook flew through the air, and Vlad narrowly dodged the heavy volume before it grazed him the cheek. It only slammed at the wall, before tumbling to the floor with a deafening THUD. _

**"GO. AWAY!"**

* * *

><p>Moonlight still flooding into the chilly room from the port window overlooking his bed, Danny wearily closed his eyes. Ironically enough, the only thing giving him comfort at this point was the intoxicating smell of hundreds and hundreds of violet flowers scattered all around the room, and the crumpled up letters he still clutched in his hand, which was tucked underneath his pillow. By now, he'd memorized the messages, messy scrawl and elegant script looming in his mind.<p>

….along with a metric load of memories he so desperately wanted to forget, but could not, both new and old.

A new present had just come hours ago, when he'd finally, FINALLY been able to slowly sink into restless dreams. He'd trudged through the darkness, nearly tripping and killing himself three or four times over these bulky vases-and at the door had been a cheerful delivery man…with a basket full of fruit.

From Qwan. He recalled how dismayed he'd been when he untied the ribbon, wondering what depths Vlad was willing to sink to to buy his affections back. But instead of the billionaire's familiar handwriting, he'd found an unfamiliar, messy text, and a set of words hastily scribbled on a napkin that most definitely were NOT Vlad's:

_Hey, Danny! You hardly touched anything at dinner tonight! Cheer up-tomorrow, we're going to our first island, and it's going to be so peakin'! Eat some fruit-I find that always cheers me up. I'm totally here for you, man. _

_Love, Qwan, OXO _

Uggghhh. He slammed his face into his pillow, ears burning. If his heart didn't eat him alive before dawn, humiliation and the wish to be swallowed up by the planet and spit out in China would.

Right now, he felt so lonely, which he knew was ridiculous; his friends were less than three steps away. And he knew it wasn't healthy to spend all of his rare vacation time sulking….

….but now, he was sick of putting on a neutral face. He was writhing, twitching erratically on his bed, one arm putting a death squeeze on his pillow. A dry sob fell out of his mouth, and for a desperate moment, Danny considered calling out for Vlad. If the creepy man was as insistent on following him as he believed, he was less than a few footsteps away, too.

All it would take was more forgiving and forgetting. Vlad would come for him-of that much, he was certain. He wouldn't have to worry about Qwan's confusing approaches, nor would he have to keep second-guessing himself at every turn. He could relax, breathe, and love, as he so much wanted to do right now.

….but then, just the same as before, Vlad would forget. He'd draw out his cell phone on the cruise, swear that it was just for a few moments, and end up spending hours arguing with his secretaries. The hypocrite would get enraged if he so much looked anyone else's way-but would be bemused whenever Danny confronted him over it. It was a jealous, possessive relationship, and maybe Jazz was right when she'd said those awful, awful words….

_"It's poisonous, Danny."_

Danny bit his lip in order to stop himself from making a sound, but he still heard someone moan, and the tears still crawled down his face. Exhausted, he cast a hopeless glance at the dark waters outside the window, eyes red.

Much as it annoyed him to admit it, he loved Vlad. More than he ever thought he could. But what would become of their ruined relationship if he started it up yet again, put himself at risk yet again, and was heartbroken-

Yet again?

Hating himself, Danny started to sob in the darkness, crawling underneath his comforters and sheets, hand extending out to the bottle of sleeping pills he'd bought just that evening resting on his bedside table. It retreated, pressed on, retreated again, and slowly continued. He didn't want to have to think or feel anything about this anymore.

Must not…must…..must not…must….

He slowly unscrewed the lid, finding, to his surprise, only three pills left inside. He'd taken one earlier, and there had been at least forty-eight more inside. Huh! Was he losing it, or had someone been going through his things?

No matter. It could wait until tomorrow.

After swallowing the pills whole with a swig of water, Danny restlessly lay back and waited, occasional tear still sliding across his face, wishing he knew how to turn off the stupid AC. It was freezing in here…..

In about twenty minutes, he felt himself growing drowsy. And the room was getting suspiciously warmer, too, as if he'd been a cat tucked beside a roaring hearth fire. Comfortable for the first time in days, Danny unconsciously curled up to the warmth surrounding him, already asleep when a pair of arms slowly wrapped around his waist in the gloom.

* * *

><p><em>He'd really, really done it this time. And the fury would not leave him. It colored his obsessive thoughts a bright, dusty red, and it burned angry scorch marks into his mind. This was all his fault. Daniel hated him! His precious, better-self hated him, probably hated the sight of him, probably took Amy or some other on their offer, probably had thrown away every card Vlad had sent…..<em>

_He'd ruined himself. Love had forsaken him for twenty years, and now, NOW, he knew why. _

_It had been three days, and Daniel would not respond to his calls, nor his emails, nor to the three or four (He'd lost track) flowergrams he'd sent to him. When out of desperation, Vlad visited the campus again, Daniel had been nowhere to be found._

_He was dismayed. His heart was being wrung from the inside out, and guilt-horrible, unfamiliar, guilt was charging through his system with a team of dark horsemen, gnawing eagerly on his aching insides. _

_He tossed and turned in his luxury bed, forcing himself to avoid thoughts of visiting his private bar, and drowning his misery in scotch. No. No, he would be sober when he finally hunted down Daniel tomorrow, and begged. Even his dignity and vast ego wasn't beyond that, anymore. He'd treated Daniel horribly on his birthday, after he'd made all that fuss about Daniel spending it tastefully-when all Daniel had wanted to do was go out to a movie, and have dinner at home-and had the nerve to become upset when the boy introduced Vlad as a friend, when Vlad himself had gone beyond that, and introduced the boy as a relative. _

_He threw his face into the pillow, almost reeling. _

_What did he do? What did he do? What did he-_

Crreeeeeaaaaakkkkk.

_Vlad froze as the enormous door quietly slipped open to his bedroom suite, and slowly slid shut once again. A moment's pause, and then, he heard little footsteps, soft, lithe, but uncertain, make their way towards the bed-in his direction._

_Eyes narrowed suspiciously in the dark, Vlad's eyes soon widened, and he exhaled for a long time, staring up at the canopy of his fine bed. The bed gave way ever so slightly as a form crawled up on it in the darkness, inching underneath the custom made duvet closer to the billionaire. _

_Wordlessly, Vlad held his arms open, feeling something or someone slide into them, and, very lightly, as though a butterfly had settled there, felt a kiss settle on the rough stubble on his cheek. _

_Eyes closed tightly as to prevent the moisture gathering there from expanding, Vlad simply smiled, face still buried against the pillow. Slowly, he gently pulled his nightly visitor close, and kissed the crown of raven spikes he could dimly make out. Kissing the soft skin silently, but feverishly, he at last lowered his lips beside an ear, and whispered:_

_"I was so afraid you weren't going to come." _

_Shortly afterwards, he felt asleep, listening to the soft breathing beside him that was his nocturnal lullaby._

* * *

><p>Red eyes mournful, Vlad drew his warm hand over the boy's cold cheek, the corners of his mouth twitching when Danny leaned into the touch, sighing slightly. Looking away, Vlad stared morosely at the basket of fruit perched nearby, his jawline growing hard, and nearly started to grind his ivory fangs.<p>

Oh, how would he have loved to strangle that boy! Or, better yet, overshadow him, thrust his head into the toilet until he lose consciousness, phase out, and proceed to beat him over the head with the lid until he stopped moving. Pleasant though the boy was, (That made him all the worse to him!) there was something very unsettling deep inside him. He didn't know what it was, per say, but he definitely didn't want Daniel anywhere near him. Something wasn't right. Something dangerous. And it made him worry for the boy's sake.

Would Daniel allow another to kiss him, hold his hand, to take him places, to a warm bed and….make love with someone other than himself?

The thought was agonizing; unbearable. Vlad buried his face into the crook of Danny's neck, careful not to wake him, but devastated.

If the young halfa was…happy….with someone else, did he have the right to beg and drag a guilty boy back into another song and dance of ignoring his feelings and opinions? Selfish heart he had, he knew it couldn't possibly be right.

But he couldn't give up. While he'd promised Daniel his space, he was going to do everything in his power to at least turn him in his direction; if only for a moment. And if this Qwan did turn out to be something awful (He'd watch him very, VERY carefully on that one…and maybe try just a little…..friendly intervention if the boy dared to kiss Danny again)…..

He'd be there. Even if only on the rebound. Vlad smiled faintly as he tucked an envelope underneath Danny's pillow, and brushed his lips over the boy's forehead.

It was a start, and one he knew he didn't earn, but he owed it to them-or what had used to be them. Daniel was his everything. And he wasn't going down without a good, vicious fight.

_Next Drabble: Opera_


	6. Drabble Six, Part One: Opera

Drabble Six, Part One: Opera

Yay! *Cheers* I've been so excited to post this chapter...this drabble is going to get a little long, so sit back and enjoy what's hopefully not too cheesy, quality gush. Before you guys start looking up the Opera in this story, might as well tell you now: Doesn't really exist. That was just a story I wrote once upon a time. The two main characters, Pietro and Andrei, reminded me slightly of Danny and Vlad, so I actually wrote the first chapter of the story, and published it on FF...so if you'd like to check it out, great. I only got maybe one review for it, so am thinking of simply deleting it.

Spoiler alert for the Silence of the Stars. The two chapters for this drabble still only count for one letter: "O."

* * *

><p>Flashback: Five months ago<p>

_"Danny."_

_Jazz had her hand on her hip, and her teal eyes had set their sights on the Fenton's youngest, blazing with resolve. The only other occupant in the kitchen, Danny, however, had HIS sights set on a magazine he was reading, pretending not to hear his name being called. _

_This by no means improved Jasmine Fenton's already bad temper, which was at the verge of boiling over. _

_"Danny. I know you can hear me."_

_Danny took a sip of the coffee that was steaming slightly in front of him, expression nonchalant, though his eyes cooled slightly, blue orbs instantly frosting over._

_At last losing her impatience, Jasmine Fenton tore the magazine from her brother's hands, and angrily thrust it at the wall before whipping around, a muscle going in her right cheek._

_"Danny. I….you….I demand that you…."_

_Apparently, she was too angry to form her words into a coherent sentence. Bracing herself, the redheaded beauty took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and slowly exhaled, as if about to deal with a particularly stubborn three year old who's been explained to over and over again why they mustn't sneak a hand into the cookie jar. _

_"Danny. You need to end this NOW," she growled, glaring at her brother's glowering face as it at last lifted towards her, trembling pale hands curling into fists. _

_"I have NO idea what you two had going through your MINDS at Christmas, but I can't believe that you-YOU-of all people-!"_

_Danny lifted an eyebrow, biting the inside of his mouth to stop himself from saying something truly nasty. _

_"I don't know what you thought you saw, Jazz," he muttered, through clenched teeth, "But you can't-"_

_"Don't talk to me like I'm an IDIOT, Danny! He….that filthy…that….that d-disgusting old man…..twisted old….foul…."_

_Danny's own temper flared, and the boy stood up immediately from the table, glaring down at his shoes._

_"He's the same age as Mom and Dad. And you don't go around calling THEM decrepit and ancient. And stop insulting him, if you know what's good for you."_

_Jazz's face went scarlet._

_"Danny. He…I thought I'd opened the door onto a nightmare," she said faintly, shaking hands reaching for her wooden chair for support. The entire kitchen table started to rattle. "He was **hurting** you. You can't deny that."_

_Danny rolled his eyes once again, though he looked significantly paler then before. _

_"Well, you might want to read the whole 'What Every Young Adult Should Know' book more carefully," he said sardonically, not missing Jazz's ears turning bright pink. "Jazz," he added, more gently, though his own ears were burning, "He wasn't trying to hurt me, it's just something that happens….um...second time around..."_

_Looking nauseated, Jazz abruptly shook her head, sending red hair flying in a frenzy, looking ready to wring the strands out._

_"Danny. I'm not trying to hurt you. But if you honestly think that Vlad's just not using you to get closer to Mom, then I'm afraid you're seriously-"_

_"I'm not insane! Jazz, he friggin' told me that he loved me!"_

_Jazz cast her little brother a sharp look, though her eyes were brimming over with pity._

_"And he could just as easily have told you that you're not good enough for anyone else, or that the grass is purple. But just because Vlad SAYS these things, doesn't make them TRUE!"_

_"Maybe you don't know what I know. Maybe you DON'T, contrary to expectations, KNOW everything, Jazz."_

_Jazz threw her hands into the air, distressed. _

_"Look! Danny, believe it or not, I don't care if you're gay."_

_"Bisexual, Jazz! There's a differ-"_

_"But I swear, I'll see Vlad flailed before I see him within another mile of you. You're too young to realize that you ARE playing with fire, Danny! First love-if you can call it that-is always like that! You overlook the other person's flaws, and you're so overwhelmed and caught up with the idea of being in a relationship, you ignore seriously important things that are usually just SICK!"_

_"Like the fact that I'm not dating Sam? SO sorry that I forgot that I'm only allowed to date people you think I'll look nice with? Gee, Jazz, thanks so much for caring. What a moron I've been."_

_"Danny. He. Is. Twenty-five years older than you. He's a middle-aged billionaire, whereas YOU'RE a college student!" Jazz shouted, now sounding near tears. "By the time you're the age he is now, Vlad's going to be an old man-probably eyeing someone a lot younger than you are!"_

_The comment stung so badly that Danny only gaped at his sister, speechless. Jazz hurriedly pressed forward in her sibling's silence. _

_"Look, what difference does it make if the two of you are both hybrids? He's hurt you before-hurt your family and friends! I don't know what could have inspired you to be so selfish and so thickheaded as to date this jerk! He's a pedo-"_

_Danny abruptly found his own, albeit cracking voice. _

_"SHUT UP! I'm eighteen years old now, Jazz!" he shouted, his blue eyes gleaming a dangerous chartreuse. I'm not a kid anymore-it's perfectly legal!" _

_Jazz leaned up against the kitchen wall, far from looking scared at her brother's outburst._

_"Interesting. And was it legal in the weeks you spent with him before you turned eighteen? Or, more likely, the NIGHTS? See, you don't even deny it! Danny, I'm begging you, for your sake, all of us, just end it!" _

_Again lost for words, Danny only shook his head, his hands curling into fists so tightly his skin went violet, and slowly starkly white, his nails digging sharply into his palms. _

_"And if I didn't?" he asked softly, through unmoving lips. _

_Jazz rounded on him._

_"I'll call the authorities."_

_He scoffed._

_"You don't have any proof." _

_As though expecting this question, Jazz thrust her hands into her pockets, and withdrew a slip of paper with shaking fingers. Frowning, Danny stepped forward to get a closer look at the image-and promptly recoiled with horror. _

_It was a photograph; one taken four or so months ago when both hybrids had gone out to celebrate the elder one's birthday. The date was still digitally stamped onto the side of the white frame, some weeks before Danny's own birthday. _

_But that wasn't the truly frightening part of the picture: in the image, Danny was wound up tightly in Vlad Masters' arms, which were coiled around him like a serpent, leaving little to the imagination, especially considering hand was pressed at the back of Danny's head, and the other was pressed against his navel. The treacherous Danny-image was turned around, smiling serenely up at his lover, Alice blue eyes glittering mischievously._

_The billionaire's own eyes were closed, and he had his lips pressed to the teen's forehead, expression blissful. _

_Horrified, Danny slowly looked up at his sister, dumbfounded. Starting, he made a grab for the photo, but Jazz only held it out of reach, ignoring her brother's struggles. _

_"And even if Vlad's lawyers manage to make this little scene seem innocent enough, I doubt the paparazzi will," she said grimly, not batting an eyelash when Danny tore the photo away, all the color draining away from his features. "I made copies of that picture, Danny. No point in burning it."_

_Danny's mouth dropped in disbelief, outraged._

_"You…you spied on us," he said quietly, not noticing that tiny trickles of blood were slowly sliding down his hands. _

_Now his sister couldn't seem to look at him. But Danny stepped in front of her, forcing her to. _

_"How could you, Jazz? That…this was private! T-this **was special**! I can't believe you'd sink so low-"_

_"Danny. For the last time, your relationship is poisonous. Even if the guy were a little bit younger, that wouldn't make it better! You're writing ridiculously long emails to him all day, you sneak out at night to see him-" _

_"Jazz, do us a favor! GET A HOBBY THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE STALKING MY PERSONAL LIFE!" Danny stormed. "Besides, if you haven't forgotten, I'm moving out in a few weeks for college-"_

_"Danny, that isn't my point! If you won't take care of yourself, someone has to!"_

_"I'm not a baby! And you're SUCH a hypocrite! You're the one who dated Johnny 13! And that's way worse, considering the fact that he's a DEAD guy-what does that make you, a necrophiliac?"_

_Jazz huffed. _

_"Danny, don't make this about ME! Besides, YOU had no problem interfering with MY relationship-"_

_"Uh, yeah, BECAUSE THE GUY WAS A GHOST TRYING TO MAKE YOU A VESSEL FOR HIS UNDEAD GIRLFRIEND!"_

_Jazz whipped around, scoffing._

_"And you're missing what I'm TRYING to tell YOU! Just like Johnny tried to 'make do' with me for awhile, I believe Vlad's trying to 'make do' with YOU! You're NOTHING to him, Danny-just an attractive little sex toy that he enjoys manipulating to give his rotten existence some meaning!"_

_A deathly hush. Jazz took a look at the expression on Danny's face, and knew she had gone too far. Anxious, she took hold of the teen's shoulders, trying to loosen up his statuesque posture. _

_"Danny. I'm sorry. I know this must hurt-"_

_"Don't," Danny croaked, pushing his sister's hands away, and doubling back a few steps. "Don't even-"_

_"Danny, I don't want to hurt you. Just promise me that you'll end it with Vlad, before he makes you do something stupid or he does MORE than just break your heart-" _

_"What….what do you call what you're doing now?"_

_"I'm not trying to, Danny!" Jazz cried out despairingly, as Danny turned his wild stare to the photo in his hands, making it abruptly disappear into fiery ectoplasmic ashes, "I'm trying to protect you! Vlad won't care about you the way a nice girl like Sam or Valerie would-he wouldn't notice the things that are really, really important, like-"_

_"Like the way he didn't notice the fact that I've been miserable for the past two years?" Danny choked out. "That I haven't thought of offing myself at least once after I GOT these stupid powers?"_

_Now it was Jazz's turn to be stunned. Horrified, she made to wrap her arms around Danny, but the halfa immediately switched into his ghost half, and phased through the floor while Jazz desperately tried to catch him, her arms seizing empty air. _

_"Danny! Danny, WAIT! DANNY!"_

_But her brother was gone. Jazz let out a moan of dismay, and sank onto her chair once again, burying her face in her hands as she started to cry. _

"Danny! Hey Danny, c'mon! We're taking a group photo!"

Danny started out from his thoughts in surprise, mouth dropping slightly in a small O as Valerie cheerfully started dragging her friends to the deck, where a faint patch of a beautiful, emerald island glowed in the distance, surrounded by the twinkling waters of the Caribbean. The Captain himself informed the group that they were expected to arrive this afternoon, when shortly after they'd disembark for the entire day. Sam was dragging Tucker to visit some ancient temple ruins, whereas Dani and Valerie were planning on visiting the more touristy side of town and shopping.

Qwan, on the other hand, cheerfully stated to Danny that he had no plans, once over breakfast this morning, reminded him again while they bowled two hours later, and again at lunch, which had ended just a few minutes ago. It was endearingly sweet, but Danny had only been able to give the young man a nervous smile and a timid nod in turn.

He very possibly had plans, but he was still torn on whether or not he ought to send those plans tumbling to the bottom of the ocean with his cell phone.

Smiling slightly, the teen allowed himself to be beckoned into the queue of his friends in front of the _isla de esperanza_ on the deck, smiling and fidgeting uncomfortably as Qwan draped an arm over him, the taller boy smiling hugely while making a peace sign at the camera. Valerie raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, raising her finger to tap the button.

Suddenly, Qwan winced, and immediately withdrew his arms from Danny's pale shoulders, (He'd tried to tan whilst napping, but had only woken to find himself slathered richly in coconut-scented sunscreen, suspiciously enough) hands flying to his almond-shaped eyes just as Valerie took the photograph.

"Ack! Holy…_ouch!"_

Dani started giggling while Qwan staggered to the side, still rubbing frantically at his red eyes, grumbling. "Dude, my eyes….something's burning in them!"

Sam shot a bewildered look at the tall boy as she drew away, lithe figure outfitted in a black swimsuit.

"Qwan? It's just a camera flash. It can't possibly hurt THAT much-"

Danny raised an eyebrow, expression changing from puzzlement to incredibility as Qwan exclaimed:

"No…no, it's not that….it's like….aaggh…I dunno-lime juice, or something!"

While Qwan staggered blindly in search of a towel, Danny slowly turned around to face their deck table, noting that the slice of lemon previously present in his water glass had, shockingly enough, disappeared.

Danny paled, flushed, and then scowled, eyes narrowing into **Brandeis blue slits, goosebumps prickling on the back of his neck while seagulls squawked and fluttered overhead. **

"Stop it," he murmured angrily under his breath. "Leave him alone. Leave _me _alone, while you're at it."

A slight, warm breeze ruffled his dark hair ever so slightly. The corners of Danny's mouth twitched, but he turned away quickly, hoping that his invisible stalker didn't see and would be encouraged to keep tormenting him.

Creep. Absolute creep. But he knew by now that he had to keep ignoring the elder half-ghost, else Vlad would never give him his peace, and bug off.

He was on the verge of a mental breakdown, trying to enjoy a nice, normal vacation, and here Vlad was following him around all the time, setting off his ghost sense, and effectively getting his revenge by driving the poor boy absolutely mad. As if having bowling balls floating to him and odd, albeit kind of nice looking, shells appearing in his pockets or kisses being brushed on his forehead at weird intervals….

And the stupid present his secret Santa stalker left him last night under his pillow didn't do much to help matters. Out of all things; considering the hundreds of items that he could easily disdain or chuck out the windows, he had to leave him with two wretched tickets. For their wretched, stupid, stupid, stupid opera which had ended in disaster.

And, okay, a lot of lovemaking, but still. Vlad, 1, Danny, 0. He'd given him the one present he'd never, ever be able to throw away. Much as he would have loved to. Horrible old bat.

Sitting back down at the table while Qwan desperately rubbed at his eyes with a napkin, Danny stole another glance at the crumpled envelope lying innocently on his lap and groaned. Maybe he just ought to throw them away; that way, Vlad could let him break down in peace, and get the hint to-

"Hey, Danny?"

Qwan, eyes still red and swollen, curiously picked up the envelope on the teen's lap, and curiously tipped out the contents just as Danny whipped around, jaw dropping.

"Hey! Qwan, I-those are-"

But he was too late; Qwan was already scanning the fine, elegant print on the tickets, his boyish face lighting up with excitement.

"Dude!" he cried out in excitement, as their friends curiously mingled around them. "You got tickets for _The Silence of the Stars_! My parents were only able to get seats to this baby _twice_-and you got them for The Theater on Isla de Esperanza!"

Qwan whistled, slowly turning over the fine paper with a respect akin to reverence.

"How the heck did you-"

"Raffle," Danny murmured sullenly, kicking at the leg of his chair, praying desperately that his friends had no idea what the opera was even about. "They were in that gift basket I won this morning."

He'd never even entered that dumb raffle contest, for Pete's sake! Did Vlad think that having gifts delivered to his room every hour was going to make him crawl back to him with sad eyes?

But Qwan had already piped up.

"Really? Whoa….that's great, dude. Seriously. Um….ah…..uh….."

Qwan flustered, and Sam shot him a suspicious glance, which didn't help his stutter any.

"These tickets are worth an arm and a leg….and they're set for a seat in the Old Grande Balcony seats tonight! Dude, that's so perfect, just in time for our arrival on our first island!"

Suddenly, Qwan cast Danny a shy glance, trying to look bored and off-hand.

"You'd really like it, Danny. Are you planning on going?"

Danny didn't even bother to mention that he'd already seen the damn play before. He shrugged; Qwan immediately pressed on.

"Danny! You need to see it at least once! I-In fact, if no one else feels like seeing it-"

Outfitted in Bermuda shorts, Tucker threw up his hands, looking disgusted.

"I know I don't. What fun could be an opera be? If I wanted to listen to people scream while I slam my head into the wall over and over until I pass out just to relieve myself of the boredom, I could just watch The Blob. No thanks."

Sam also looked rather distasteful.

"Pass. My parents tried dragging me to every ballet under the sun when I was a kid; I made up six new diseases just to get out of them. Opera's not much better."

Danielle cast a curious look at her older counterpart.

"Well, what's it about?"

Qwan smiled.

"Well, it's kinda sorta a paternal and romantic ballad with an evil lord and the son of his worst enemy. Varies on how you look at the play. Then, there's the whole 'curse' thing that-"

The pale teenage girl's heart-shaped face cringed slightly in distaste.

"Ew. Um, thanks, but no thanks. I don't like love stories; Val and I are just heading out shopping. I want to get a straw hat before we go-I've been saving up tips we've gotten from our new organization, The Girls in Red."

Qwan beamed, not looking at all unhappy to hear all four of their friends reject his proposal.

"Excellent! Then it's just Danny and me!" he said cheerfully, draping an arm around Danny's shoulders once again. The halfa only stared at the tickets clutched in his hands. Aghast.

"That, uh, that is if that's okay. You really SHOULD see it though, Danny. It's all sad and romantic and sweet."

Grisly and horrible was more like it.

Danny closed his eyes, wondering why on Earth Vlad had to leave him with two tickets. Was he TRYING to set the two up together-make sure Danny was left with a nice partner so that he could return to his company, guiltless?

While he tried to carelessly flip the thought off, it still made his heart sink into the depths of his stomach, and his eyes prickle.

"Sure," he said, wondering why his mouth had gone so dry. He cleared his throat to get rid of the hoarseness.

"That'd...be wonderful, Qwan."

He felt a ripple in the air, and didn't flinch when he felt something that felt suspiciously like a pair of lips press entreatingly against his hand.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback Two <em>

_How far he'd ran, he wasn't certain. But even as the rain continued to plummet all about him, and his vision became a wild, disjointed blur of gray, all that had really mattered was that he continued to keep running, running, running. The ache in his side meant nothing, and the burn in his lungs meant nothing, and the hot streams of tears spilling down his face too, meant nothing._

_Get away, get away, get away, was the rhythm of his pounding feet against the soaked cement. He sped past affronted people bearing umbrellas on the sidewalk, cutting across several people directly into the darkness of the road._

_A pair of glaring headlights burst into his vision, and, out of the corner of his eye, he saw an enormous, gleaming black vehicle rush towards him, screeching like a pained harpie to an abrupt halt, the front of the car banging against the petrified teen's form, nearly knocking him off his feet. A shrill horn sounded, and Danny's hands flew over his ears, wincing as rain streamed down his now-soaked body._

_"I'm sorry!" he meant to exclaim, but could only breathlessly word-before he bobbed his head apologetically, and started to run away. But just as his foot reached the safety of the sidewalk again, the back door of the posh vehicle swung open, and an all-too familiar figure hurriedly clamored out, hooded eyes wide, rain pelting against his fine silver hair, tapering it to his neck._

_"Daniel! Daniel, what in the world…..?"_

* * *

><p><em>He would say one thing for Vlad's shoulders: They were a natural choice for him to cry on. <em>

_Vlad had wordlessly beckoned him into the car with open arms, embracing him lovingly as Danny wept for a quarter of an hour. Only after that had the boy calmed down enough to haltingly tell him his tale, had Vlad's face set into a dark mask, and he'd instructed his driver to take the two of them to their normal spot._

_At the very least, it had stopped raining by the time they'd arrived on the docks, which had a freezing wind whipping their hair into a mess. Vlad had slung an arm around his shoulders to keep him warm as they quietly walked along the deserted walkway, tasting the salty air, and listening to the sound of the waves sloshing against the aged stone near the docklines._

_At last, they'd arrived at the gloomy beach, and Vlad settled down on a frozen sand bank overlooking the chaotic waters wildly spinning and churning themselves into a miserable, angry mass, pulling Danny onto his knee._

_The two halfas were soberly silent, and Danny remembered grimly thinking that you wouldn't be very hard pressed to find more cheer in a graveyard in January._

_After awhile, Danny threw his face into his palms, ignoring Vlad's languid fingertips as they soothingly started rubbing circles on the back of his neck._

_"Vlad. Please. Tell me a lie right now. I'm about to freak out."_

_Vlad exhaled, watching the gray waves slurp and splash against the sand. It wouldn't be until spring until a healthy blue hue returned to the water._

_"Very well. This is exactly as bad as you believe it is."_

_Danny cast his lover an annoyed glance._

_"Vlad. Please. I said a lie."_

_"Which it was."_

_Danny rolled his eyes, his heart still beating like a hummingbird's under Vlad's hands._

_"Try again, fruitloop."_

_Vlad flicked Danny's forehead, managing a small smile._

_"Fine. I don't love you, and I won't do everything in my power to keep you safe if the press gets their filthy little paws on that picture."_

_Danny shifted in Vlad's arms, still looking unhappy as he chastely kissed Vlad on his stubble-covered cheek._

_"Dude. I'm not the one we have to worry about here. The papers will have a field day, Vlad-and they'll lock you away!"_

_"That is, IF they could convict me, overturn my lawyers, and IF your sister is so foolhardy and so thoughtless as to betray you. Dear boy, for heaven's sakes, don't worry about me. You would be in considerable more danger than I were our relationship made public."_

_"…what do you mean?" Danny asked quietly, wearily rubbing his red eyes with his sleeve._

_Vlad glanced down at his young lover with a look filled with both exasperation and tender affection._

_"Little badger, if you think the cameras will try and haunt my footsteps, you have NO idea whatsoever how they will torment yours. At the very least, they can't follow me and trespass on my private property…not without facing some most distasteful retribution," he snorted, and Danny couldn't help but feel that this 'retribution' was not of the legal type one bit. Smoothing Danny's black spikes, Vlad tucked the boy's head underneath his chin and hugged him close, staring out into the dark depths of the freezing sea._

_"But you, my boy, if they're determined to find you, they will. The majority of the celebrity-pursuing press are heartless, bloodsucking vultures that will follow you to class, to your dorm, to everywhere and anywhere you might go. You'll know the sting of having those foul lights flashing in your eyes every second, and, as for your 'going ghost?' A thing of the past. There will be nowherefor you to hide, dearheart, and if they see you transform, then it's not only your security, but your life on the line as well. The only thing worse I can imagine than the paparazzi is the United States government sending its special services after you. Infamous Danny Phantom, caught at last? The world would be in uproar."_

_Glancing down, Vlad mentally cursed; Danny looked paler than ever, and his heart was pounding like a drum beneath Vlad's fingertips. Eager to balm the wound, the billionaire took a sharp glance about the area, found it deserted, and, with a flash of black rings, transformed into Plasmius. He felt Danny shiver as a fiery core replaced Vlad's heartbeat, and move closer into him. He wrapped his cape around the boy, sealing in warmth, and kissing him tenderly on the cheek._

_"Never fear, Daniel. It would never come to that, so long as you were willing to transfer, and stay with me in my-"_

_Danny only glanced up at his lover, eyebrow raised. Vlad sighed, and conceded._

_"Well, you couldn't blame me for trying. But the point that I was trying to make was that this is worst come to worst. And if it EVER came down to such a catastrophe, which it certainly will not, I'll see organizations like the GIW burning in a tarnished pit of ashes before they lay so much as a finger on you."_

_"Isn't that just a little much, Vlad?"_

_"I hardly think so. I would take you into seclusion with me in a protected sanctuary in a resort deep into the depths of the Ghost Zone."_

_"I find it just a bit creepy that you have a safe house, Vlad."_

_"Mmm." Vlad snorted. "Not so much if you live with the fear of the public discovering you're among the 'walking dead,' in your terms, dear boy."_

_Danny shivered again, though he really wasn't cold now._

_"Good point."_

_Vlad exhaled, and kicked a nearby pebble into the churning waves below the old wood of the docks._

_"And as much as I would relish the idea of spending the rest of my life with you not having to share you with another soul, that would be bad for you, I think. At the very least, you would be heartbroken, and I would be dismayed for your sake. But don't fear, my boy. Jasmine is an irritatingly intelligent young lady; I'm sure she realizes the potential catastrophe at hand. More than likely, it's just a bargaining chip she means to use to frighten you away from me."_

_"Why?"_

_"I don't know, love. It's infuriating, but she does this out of concern. If you really need to placate her, let her believe you and I are finished. Drop a few hints about a girl…." Vlad let out a long-suffering sigh._

_"Cover your bases just a little better, Daniel. If we'll have to see each other a little less-"_

_"But I don't want that!"_

_"Do you think I do? Danny, I need you near me. And ultimately, once you throw Jasmine off your trail, we won't have to meet in secret quite so often. Nothing good comes without some sacrifice."_

_Danny smiled sadly; Vlad caressed his back._

_"I love you more than I've ever loved anyone or anything," Vlad said, his voice quiet._

_"Including your mother. Daniel, please bel-mmmpph!"_

_Danny had plastered his lips over Vlad's, quite effectively stopping the forty year old man mid-sentence, which was a rare victory. Soon enough, Vlad's eyes had closed, and his tongue was lightly tracing the outline of Danny's lips, slowly sliding into the young boy's mouth, curling around the other it found and stroking it languidly._

_"I love you," Danny mumbled breathlessly, as Vlad attempted to assault his mouth once again._

_"I-mppph-wish I could show you just how much. You're just more articulate than I am."_

_"'Articulate.'" Vlad repeated, a hungry smile appearing on his face, and Danny had to laugh at the creepy grin he so desperately adored. "You know, it's quite a turn on for me when you use more sophisticated words, little badger."_

_"Maybe that explains why you insisted on stuffing that Webster's dictionary in my Christmas stocking."_

_Vlad chuckled._

_"True enough. But I do believe you were speaking of articulation, my boy," he murmured, and Danny shivered again as Vlad's lips descended from his lips, tracing sensually down to the pale flesh it found, suckling softly once they found a fluttering pulse. "And occasionally, words don't do it justice. I've heard you being VERY expressive in a single cry."_

_Danny's ears went pink, and he swatted at his lover's head, but Vlad, expecting the move, only teasingly arrested it in his own, and pressed it to cup his face, as the other one smoothly disappeared underneath the boy's shirt. Danny smirked, and wriggled closer to the man, who was all too eager to let the ministrations continue._

_"Ah-agh, Vlad, we-we can't-"_

_"Why not?" Vlad breathed, and Danny had to frantically rack his mind to discover yes, there WAS a 'Why not.'_

_"You really can't wait until we find somewhere else?" Danny snorted, but groaned; Vlad was already straddling his waist, pointedly pressing their navels against one another, making Danny twitch with desire._

_"No." Vlad's fingers were already fumbling for Danny's jean buttons, but Danny managed to snatch them, breathing heavily._

_"You're pathetic."_

_"And you're sexy. But if you insist on being such a killjoy, little badger, FINE, I suppose we might at least head back to the car."_

_The billionaire scooped Danny up, the young hybrid's fingertips spinning through the fine hair it found, eyes closed serenely as Vlad turned around, locking lips once again with his lover, sending wild, buoyant sparks fluttering through their heated flesh, the same that were present that cold Christmas Eve when they'd been snowed in Vlad's manor, alone near the dying embers of the hearth, Vlad's anxious, vulnerable, and with achingly desiring hooded eyes boring into his own when Vlad's hands had wrapped around his waist, and slowly dragged him to the billionaire's side. _

_The happiness hadn't faded then, either. _


	7. Drabble Six, Part Two of Three: Opera

Drabble Six: Opera, Part Two

Yep...this one's a long one. :) Got extended to THREE parts, people...and the actual friggin' opera is NOT EVEN HERE YET! Still, there are some more scenes that tie into one another, and things to be explained. Part 3 is literally a few hours' away from being finished...I can promise you that this time, you get to hear the actual story with Andrei and Pietro, because flashback after flashback gets OLD! Let's try for some action here, people!

And speaking of which, yes, there is a lemon next chapter, (Though it's really only just implied, for a good deal of it) and the story rating is about to change. I wonder...what's the pairing? ;)

Still, I'm happy I get to finish this drabble before school starts on Friday. *Shudders* Me, a college student, well, whaddaya know...

Yes, this fiction has the plot synopsis of _The Silence of the Stars._ You can read the first part if you like-I might just delete it soon.

Lots of flashbacks in this one...hope you all enjoy, and remember to review! Thank you! ^^ The three drabb

* * *

><p><em>Flashback One:<em>

_The story of __Il Silenzio Delle Stelle, or, The Silence of the Stars, was possibly one of the longest and most depressing spectacles he'd ever sat through in his life, and, by far, it hadn't made his already grim birthday a very jolly one. _

_All the teen had really wanted to do was go to a concert, maybe have a nice dinner with Vlad in private, and enjoy a nice rendezvous with Vlad in a warm bed. His midterms had ended just a few days ago, and now, far from wanting excitement, far from wanting any extravaganza, peace and quiet with the man he loved sounded great. _

_He'd pleaded Vlad not to get him any presents, considering Vlad was already bent on buying him a car, a stereo, a new wardrobe, a new dresser while he was at it, some stocks in the market, a gold pocket watch, and several other miscellaneous, ridiculous gifts that were flattering, flustering-and just a little bit scary to receive. Danny had had to beg the bemused man not to give him any 'insane' gifts. 'Sane', sadly did not seem to register with his lover's standards of posh gift-giving, considering that Vlad had sent a little practical joke on him on Sweetest Day (Just another Hallmark Holiday, but who cared?) by sending him a Mariachi band to sing a love ballad outside the window of one of the University lecture halls during class. While girls had giggled and cooed at the scene outside, and the teacher's jaw had dropped to such an extend you could have easily shoved a fist inside and allowed it to fit comfortably, Danny had crawled underneath his desk and would not venture out until the blessed bell rang, and he could go ghost, sink through the floor, and proceed to kill Vlad over and over and over again, ignoring the man's chortles that Danny had said that he didn't want expensive ITEMS. A serenade was, upon Vlad's browsing in a Webster's Dictionary while one hand had held a flailing Danny Phantom by the head, a tune, and when performed by a group of people, decidedly not a physical 'thing.' _

_He still found it kind of hard to forgive Vlad for that one. It had been very sweet, yes-but it wasn't as though he could afford lavish gifts like gold or silver, nor did he really want to turn the relationship into some sort of exchange of competitive gift-giving. When he did give the man gifts, they were usually very happily received in the bedroom, near their favored spot, in Vlad's vacation home….anywhere was good. Occasionally, it would be a clumsily written poem that Danny was normally too embarrassed to read aloud, though Vlad would entreat him to, or it would be some doodle Danny did in his spare time, or a calculation of a certain constellation, though he knew Vlad understood none of that. _

_When Vlad offered him huge things and tried to push them on him, they made him feel…guilty. Because while the man insisted that his company were enough, he had to remind himself that he was scrawny kid, and while Vlad had told him that night they were snowed in together that he would have no intention of allowing Danny to get away from him, he still worried. He'd had his heart broken once before-and that had not been a TRUE heartbreak-and it had been devastating._

_If Vlad got bored with someone who sometimes felt as insignificant as he felt and decided to find some rich broad to play rabbits with, he'd…well, he wouldn't think about that. The thought was unbearable. A day with Vlad alone under the open sky with a bottle of wine and a basket was heaven enough, so was curling up next to him with a mug full of cheap-packet made hot chocolate, and so was spending an evening reading Frost aloud under the stars near the nook at the beach. Tickets to Jamaica over a three day weekend was definitely an out, as was a helicopter ride to New Zealand over a series of craggy purple mountaintops before arriving in a valley overlooking an enormous, glittering sea with a table set with candles before the glorious sunset waiting for them both._

_…okay, so maybe the New Zealand one COULD be made into an amendment for their Anniversary in a few months. _

_But he'd at last gotten an exasperated Vlad to agree-no gift that wasn't relatively simple, nothing over the top: A box of chocolate, maybe….an imported box of chocolates from France, NO, nothing huge, nothing set in precious stones, no more mariachi bands, no more singing telegrams, (He'd made his point rather violently with that one) and no lavishing-and if there was, there would, for Vlad Masters, be no ravishing. _

_Vlad had grumbled quite a lot, and had rolled his eyes during a great deal of Danny's demands, but had at last given in. After that, a smiling teen had given his lover a sweet kiss on his forehead, and had happily announced that for his birthday, he'd been thinking of buying concert tickets for Dumpty Humpty. _

_Most unfortunately for him, however, Vlad had cunningly bought those stupid, stupid tickets for the opera moments before Danny had barged in on him in his study via online. Moments before the 'treaty' of sorts was made, so technically, Vlad had cheerfully pointed out, he certainly wasn't breaking it. He couldn't get a refund, he insisted (Though Danny was positive that was absolute bull) and besides, he'd implored, looking pleading and innocent, and Danny had never before wanted to clock him quite so much in that moment-'you wouldn't deny me the chance to spoil you just a little on your birthday, would you, little badger? I so scarcely get you to myself, and it'd be so cultural and magnificent if we simply spent an evening at the…..'_

_Stupid, stupid fruitloop. _

* * *

><p>Isla de Esperanza. The isle of Hope. It kind of made Danny want to laugh, albeit hollowly.<p>

Upon disembarking, Tucker mysteriously came down with a case of 'land sickness' when Sam had tried to tug him along to the ancient temples. He promptly decided to cure it by heading down to the beach, noting that a place full of fruity drinks and pretty girls in bikinis playing volleyball would likely to be beneficial for his health. To Danny's relief, Qwan, Sam, Danielle, and Valerie had all been willing to visit one temple together, so he wasn't left alone with his thoughts….

….and his invisible stalker.

Danny had taken to swatting at the air whenever he felt, real or imagined, a touch, and his patience by now had fried out existence; he'd told Vlad to go away, and the fact that he felt like bursting into tears whenever he felt a hand steady him whenever he tripped over a root in the emerald green, tropical jungle made him sick with anger and humiliation. Qwan had given him a puzzled look two or three times, and wondered aloud why Danny looked so flushed, and why he continuously continued to swat the air and mutter less then pleasant words under his breath; Danny only told him that he was hot, and being followed around by a bunch of mosquitos. By pests. Bloodsuckers. He'd hoped Vlad had taken the hint, and had gone away.

And, for three hours, it seemed that he had. He'd felt nothing, heard nothing, and now, while Danielle was taking pictures of Valerie posing by the stone ruins, could peacefully focus on why he felt so horrible about it.

* * *

><p>Hours later, Sam had elected to head back to the boat-the sun was bothering her to no end, though that might have been because she was wearing a dark cape and a black, enormous sun hat that would have also served as a keen umbrella. Once she was gone, Dani and Val immediately told Danny and Qwan what they really wanted to do was go native dress shopping, so they would meet them in port at the ship after their show tonight, right?<p>

Danny had been bursting to say that he would be willing to head into town, and bore himself stupid sitting on a straw bench while the girls-and very possibly Qwan-fussed over fabrics and dresses, but Qwan had hastily helped the two on a tour bus with their bags, and happily waved them goodbye while Danny watched them go, aghast, expression equivalent to that of a betrayed little puppy's while he'd imploringly held out his hands in the wake of the groaning vehicle's dust.

~~0~~

"You sure about this?"

"I've never been more certain about anything else in my life, Danny. You're really going to like this. It feels so great. I for one _know_ that I'm going to enjoy this."

"I don't feel right about this."

"Trust me on this one."

"But-"

"Shhhh. Dude." Danny could almost hear Qwan's eyes roll from behind him. "This CANNOT be your first time."

Grumpy and uncomfortable, Danny reluctantly lay back down on his stomach, listening to Qwan's quiet grunts of appreciation from behind him. The Asian sounded like he was on Cloud Nine, whereas, he knew he wasn't feeling all that great. In fact, from what he already knew about this, it was about to get seriously painful.

They were at the Isla's Five Star Massage Therapy Spa.

A pretty woman with long dark hair was bending slightly over Qwan, pressing her soft but firm hands over his rippling muscles, and gently pulling and prodding at the muscles, attempting to coax them into relaxation, and considering the way that Qwan was grunting, she was doing her job pretty nicely.

Danny offered a nervous smile at his own masseuse, who gave him a small, kind one in turn, and then, reached for some strange, orchid and violet smelling goo out of a nearby canister, moved the towel covering Danny just a tiny bit, much to his discomfort-and then, she carefully pressed her cold hands to his back, biting back another smile when Danny twitched just a little bit, the corners of his mouth twitching just a bit. Ah. So he was ticklish.

And very unhappy, considering the look in his eye. The boy whose family were patrons to this place….perhaps he was having boyfriend trouble? Qwan always seemed as gay as the day was long to her…maybe he'd finally found someone nice to settle down with. He'd certainly treated Danny very kindly when the skeptic had come inside her, looking extraordinarily uncomfortable, and his shoulders were still as tense as a solider's. Her cool hands flew to them next, trying to work out the tension knots.

Okay, maybe this did feel just a little relaxing. Vlad had al-no. No. He was here with Qwan. Qwan had come up with the great idea of relaxing-of maybe stopping by a nice restaurant or a pretty little cove to do some sightseeing in….a gift shop nearby, so that he could send a post card to Jazz….on whom he was on a little tense terms on absolutely no reason whatsoever. That was the way things were. That was all. He wasn't going to turn into some sad, obsessive nutcase like some fruitloop he might have known once. Wasn't going to fly. This was normalcy-as normal as his life could get. This was being under the sun.

This was….kind of nice.

Danny cast a look at Qwan, who grinned lazily back. A shy smile came across Danny's face, and he turned around again to put his chin on his folded arms, looking at a pot of flowers and distantly listening to what was probably meant to be harmonious and zen-like music, but wound up sounding kind of like the type of concerto you'd hear in an elevator.

He closed his eyes. Finally, he managed to get some sleep last night, but he still was a little tired….

Flashback Two:

_"Daniel."_

_Grudging, unimpressed, Danny stared at himself in the enormous looking glass surrounded by an ornate golden frame. Hot, itchy, and most definitely uncomfortable in a tux that seemed adamant on suffocating him, he cast an unhappy glance at his lover behind him, who was grinning from ear to ear._

_Danny groaned, rolled his eyes, and stepped away, but managed a small smile, in spite of himself._

_"Vlad. You do realize that if I loved you any less then I do, this monkey suit would be lying on the floor?" he asked languidly, moving his fingertips to loosen the stupid bow tie. A regular tie felt like a noose as it was, but these stupid, stupid bows! He wondered how Vlad could stand to be wrapped up in them all the time, like an enormous present._

_….okay, maybe it meant 'unwrapping' him was a mite fun, but still._

_Vlad chuckled, and drew his arms around the squirming boy, who was now attempting to unbutton two of the top buttons on his blouse._

_"Awwww, little badger…..you do realize that while you do look deviously attractive right now," he murmured in Danny's ear, and the boy drew back with a blush and a chuckle, "I believe I share the same sentiment in wishing to discard your clothes posthaste." He sighed regretfully, and he moved to button one of Danny's buttons again, smirking when the hybrid cast him a dirty look._

_"If we had but a little more time before the performance….."_

_Danny, still pink, but still smiling, stepped away from the fancy glass, and quipped an eyebrow, hand moving to his hip._

_"Yeah, yeah. I better be seeing something worthwhile out of you when this fiasco ends," he grumbled, holding open the lavatory door for Vlad as the two both stepped out into the grandiose grand lobby. "If you can't promise you have something very, very nice in store for my birthday, Vladdie, I might just not invite you to my birthday party next year."_

_"Surely you wouldn't do that," sighed Vlad, as his arms quietly wound around Danny under the enormous, diamond-studded chandelier near the antitheater. "That's rather cruel of you, my boy, especially when I picked out such a nice gift for you."_

_"Have I seen it before?"_

_"Certainly not," Vlad purred, reaching into a nearby Ming vase to draw out a rose. "It was so enormous, I couldn't fit in my bedroom. It's actually waiting for us inside the theater."_

_"The opera?"_

_"Well, yes….here, have a flower, dearheart-but I thought we could rather enjoy this other little gift of mine during intermission. I do have a box seat, Daniel….which means we'd be pleasantly high above the others while I'd-"_

_Danny swatted the man's creeping hand away from his face, flushing red._

_"Vlad, you are NOT screwing me in this place. When I said 'screw the opera,' that wasn't quite what I had in mind."_

_Vlad burst out laughing, and Danny did as well, chuckling at the affronted looks the aristocrats were giving them, who were just beginning to pool in. (Vlad had pulled a few strings for the maintenance to allow the two halfas in around the old theater, only on Danny's request that they simply phase in, which, to the young man, was just a cleaner way of breaking in.)_

_Danny turned around the ballroom, in the sea of people decked out in fine suits and evening gowns-the ladies dripping head to foot in jewels and furs. Many of them were even sporting tiaras. He inched over to embrace Vlad from behind, biting back a grin when he whispered,_

_"You know, I've heard of purse dogs before, but not purse ladies. And here I thought the girls at my school liked to accessorize."_

_Vlad scoffed._

_"Only a living tradition, my boy. Many of these women are only accessorizing an accessory to begin with-perhaps it makes many of them feel better."_

_Danny sent the man a puzzled look, but the man had already taken his hand, and chastely kissed it, midnight blue eyes burning with love and approval._

_"I'm so happy you decided to come, dear boy. I know this wasn't precisely what you had in mind."_

_Glancing over nervously at the crowds moving into the theater, Danny meant to laugh, but then turned and looked back into the older hybrid's earnest, unwavering gaze._

_Voice momentarily dying from his throat, Danny just briefly brushed his lips against Vlad's nose, standing on tiptoe as to reach it._

_"Yeah, yeah, I love you too," he said softly, hurriedly stepping back as a woman raised her camera phone to take a picture of a nearby marble statue. "C'mon. I get the feeling that it's gonna be a long night."_

* * *

><p>And right he had been.<p>

Just as they'd been walking inside the theater, Vlad had met one of his business partners and his wife, and after Danny had uncertainly shaken both of their hands, Vlad had invited them back to the private booth with them upstairs. Although he tried not to let anything show, the surprise and the hurt he felt had been written all over his face. Vlad had been too busy chatting with William, or whatever the heck Mr. Snooty-Sniffing Cough's surname had been. His wife Olivia had been just as unpleasant, and he'd been forced to sit in a sit next to her, while she drew out a blingy phone and proceeded to send pictures of Shiz Tsu dogs to her friends with gloved hands, which made annoying beeping sounds throughout the night's entire ordeal. When he'd tried to grab ahold of Vlad during some of the really dark scenes in the play (And there were a lot; this stuff was seriously gruesome), he'd been pushed away, and Vlad had waved a hand at him when he tried to whisper, only ever vigorously, impatiently nodding when he tried to get out so much as a word. Olivia Snooty-Sniffing Cough (Looked like a cold was going around) had been giving Vlad gooey eyes, complaining loudly about the small size of the opera house's chairs, and kept clopping Danny over the side of the head with her enormous, designer handbag as she tried to manuever her and her furs comfortably in her seat...which was continuously. By the time Danny had felt like crying when Andrei started wailing his lament, it was for more reason then one when he'd recalled just how much Vlad had begged and pleaded, telling him how glorious a night it would truly be, and when he'd finally given in, Vlad had kissed him over and over again, exclaiming that the boy would not regret it-this would be one of the most magnificent birthdays ever, if not the most wonderful one of his life.

And, at the end, when Vlad and William had been chatting to the very encore over business, and Danny at last left the theater, mumbling to Vlad that he would wait for him, he only felt a little sick inside. And, once the entire house had emptied out, he'd waited under that chandelier...

...and waited...

And waited, until the people at the front desk gently told him that the house would be closing soon, Danny flicked open his phone, and messenged a quick _Where R U?_ To Vlad.

_Maybe twenty minutes later, he'd received a text:_

Daniel! Gracious, I'm so terribly, terribly sorry. William, Olivia and I must have passed you in the lobby-I'd forgotten you were here! I offered them a ride in my limousine, but dear boy, please forgive me-it was an idiotic, idiotic mistake to make-we're coming back to retrieve you this instant-

_But by the time Vlad had gotten back to the opera house an hour later, Danny had already flown home. Easily his worst birthday ever. _

_And very possibly one of the worst evenings he'd had in a very long time._

"Danny? What do you think of this shirt? D'you suppose it'd make me look fat?"

Startled, the teen cast a glance at the young Asian man behind him, who was still rifling through the novelty T-shirts. He had to laugh.

"Um...no? Qwan, geez, you look fine. That's...kinda weird to ask, anyway. No offense," he added quickly. "I...that shirt makes you look nice."

"Sorry," mumbled Qwan, flushing as he ducked back into the changing room, bearing a new armload of shirts. "You should try on that purple shirt over there-it'd make you look like a stud."

Danny quickly muttered a denial before he looked away, trying very hard not to stare into space. Things that he looked at for more than a minute kept winding up in his bag, and certainly not of his own volition. He'd already had to empty his pockets six or seven times already, though the merchandise always came with a receipt, somehow.

It didn't matter. Trying not to react, he only handed it to a surprised man or a delighted little girl before walking on, doing his best to keep his face impassive.

He'd already done the necessary souvenir shopping for his family three or four hours ago, and while Qwan kept trying to show him a good time, they always wound up back at the stores. It was actually a little cute; they'd already gone on a bicycle ride today (Qwan's bike kept slipping through the muck, for whatever reason, and the young, dark-haired man had wound up on the ground several times), a tour through the island's main metropolis, a visit to the library, the spa, and now this. He certainly knew how to keep a guy busy; Danny's mind had been too occupied by other things even when the two had had a picnic lunch together under the palms, near the beach. Talking with Qwan proved easy, natural even-and while the guy had nearly bored him out of his wits when he'd started talking about his wardrobe, Danny had been having a rather nice day. The breeze near the ocean kept everyone cool, there was so much to see and do, sun to have, and natives to talk to...even though not very many people around here spoke English, and the two, intelligent conversations he'd had other than with Qwan had been with the massuse, and a talking parrot in the marketplace.

Yes, today had been going splendidly...

...until he'd been left alone with his thoughts once again. It was getting late; he and Qwan were still due to have dinner and view the performance of The Silence of the Stars at the The Theater later this evening.

He had a nasty feeling that they wouldn't be alone, either. Had Vlad really meant for Qwan to have that wretched ticket, or had he been implying something else?

* * *

><p>He had pined for Madeline for twenty years, with a fervent passion matching that of the bloodthirsty vendetta roaring inside him on his former best friend. She haunted his thoughts, and her photos littered his manor and desktop computers. Her electronic hologram in the lab gave him some comfort, as she spoke so very much like the real Madeline, though haltingly, and the words he desperately wanted to hear from her lips were programmed electronically. She could only try to slide her gloved hand in his-though it only ever continued to slide through his flesh, as though Maddie Fenton were the true specter of the hopeless, one-sided adoration.<p>

But soon enough, after he'd nearly killed the ghost boy for intruding in his home all those years ago, and discovered the little hoodlum to be an actual human/ghost hybrid, the flame ignited by oily hatred and sheer desire had had an absolute torrent of fuel breathing life into the fire, breathing it into a sheer inferno that haunted him day and night. Daniel HAD to be his. Madeline had to be his as well, of course-but Danny was only fair retribution considering that the oaf had taken the love of his life AND half of his humanity. Danny was sparkling, determined, spritely, and endearingly pathetic in his frustrated attempts to master his ghost powers, and annoyingly heroic.

Maddie. Danny. Maddie. Danny. Maddie. Danny.

Even while the man sought to humiliate Danny, and compromise the angry young halfa's identity, family, and his heroics, he'd never once ceased dreaming of having Danny willingly come to his side, as his own child.

Maddie. Danny.

Soon enough, Vlad found himself spying on all four Fentons, though you'd have to be a simpleton not to guess which half fascinated the billionaire more. The pleasure and amusement of watching them was better than daytime TV. It was pathetic, he knew, but Maddie's insulted rejections and Danny's immediate refusals were all the more so. How pitiful to be so blind! Jack would not appreciate them the way HE could, nor could he offer what HE could, nor protect them the way HE could. Madeline would be free to pursue her ghost studies and continuing improving her arsenal of ghost assault weapons….though there was certainly no way Vlad could bear to allow her to fight.

And Danny likewise. He could give up his moronic and unyielding defense of a town stupidly built on the brink of realms, and live safely, under Vlad's roof, while training alongside Vlad to become stronger, to learn more of the frightening changes that would haunt his growing ectoplasmic form, and, first and foremost, start taking decent care of himself. The growing number of burns, cuts, and abrasions Danny came home with made him wince as he tracked the boy's movements through the surveillance system. Jack accepted the boy's weak and heartbreakingly flimsy excuses of falling down the stairs, or tripping in the hallway. Jack would normally only remember when he was tucked in his ridiculous nightcap and teddy bear that evening that raw and blistered palms generally do NOT come from stubbing your toe in the school cafeteria. Insufferable idiot! Vlad wished every type of misfortune and cancer (Several for limbs that did not exist) on the man who held what was rightfully his.

He found himself watching Danny just a little more often than normal after the boy finally broke a leg battling Skulker over a burning building. He only shook his head when the teen cheerfully limped off to school in his cast, overcome with disgust and slight awe.

When the boy was in the hospital, he hadn't been able to resist sending him a bouquet of flowers. It made him snicker for a good while, especially when the miniscule camera on the bottom of the orchid detected a bandaged Danny sending Vlad a very rude hand gesture to the plant lying innocently across his bedside table, golden card marked with Vlad's elegant script in the boy's shaking hands, disappearing into ectoplasmic flames and fading to ashes just a heartbeat later.

Danny. Maddie. Danny. Maddie.

And soon, much to his horror:

_!_

* * *

><p>Three hours later, Daniel was still ignoring him, though the strain was very visible on his face. Whether that boded for good or for ill, he didn't know. He was going to have to try harder when he got back to the ship...aside from groveling, he didn't know what sort of gift would be appropiate to express 'pleasepleaseplease don't leave me don't leave me don't leave me.' It was pathetic, but as far as he was concerned, considering that the only person he had to strip himself of his dignity and pride in front of was Daniel. And that was safe, for the boy was worth it, and Vlad adored him.<p>

Qwan was complimenting the very casual clothes that he'd himself picked out for the teen (He couldn't help but feel a surge of raw fury and jealousy at that one) that admittedly, did look rather nice on his little badger, but Danny could simply go naked and still look stunning.

Very, very, very stunning, though he certainly looked pale at the moment. Vlad anxiously stared at his ex-boyfriend while he and Qwan milled outside the theater with the few rich enough to afford tickets to the operetta in the middle of the ocean. It was not nearly so formal as the disastrous first time he and Daniel had been to the opera; several of the islanders were sporting simple summer dresses, and the tourists were dressed looking more prepared for a day of golf than a day of opera. Raising an eyebrow, his eyes again turned to Danny, who was shivering. It certainly was rather cold in here, compared to outside...by at least forty degrees or so.

But before the man could do anything about it, Qwan was carefully draping his own designer jacket around the startled boy.

Damn him. To all hell.

Vlad's already ruby red eyes flashed from where he observed from above, safely intangible, and ectoplasm dripped down his chin from a bite he'd made on his lip with his set, quivering canines.

It was like that archaeic story about the lord with many oxen and his vassal with only one sheep. The vassal was poor, and only had a lamb that he cared for supremely, which slept at the end of his bed and followed him about meekly everywhere, (It'd probably be better for his limbs' sake to not allow himself to express that idea to the boy) while the lord he worked for had scores and scores of farm animals on his estate.

But when a friend came to town, instead of selecting one from his own herds, the lord had elected to take the little sheep away from the vassal. A despicable sort of crime!...though in his case, HE was the lord, and Qwan was, in comparison, a pitiful nobody. Whatever Daniel saw in that boy, he'd never know.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Vlad watched soberly as the patient crowds were finally led inside the theater, and sadly drifted after Danny and a laughing Qwan, his spirits diminished.

Did he ever learn? Was he quite as foolish as Daniel believed him to be? Perhaps so...physical items were not going to win him any favor or forgiveness with the boy...at least, not items in the costly department such as the ones he'd practically been throwing at Danny all day. Tomorrow's gift would have to be amazing, simple, but ingenious. Danny had to know. If he couldn't tell the boy yet with words he didn't know how to find or say...

His countenance brightened when the young men found their old, velvety seats, and settled down a few rows before the stage. _Yes._ Of course. He was an absolute moron not to consider the idea earlier, but now, he could discreetly prepare SOMETHING for the boy in the morning.

For now...he could at the very least stay with Daniel THIS time, unbeknownst to him or not. His heart twinged with some regret. While guilt was relatively new to him, regret had dogged his footsteps for too many years for him not to recognize its shallow and consuming identity.

And as much as he disliked the idea, he knew he had to back off physically touching the boy. Daniel was still looking weary, and his new attention of twitching and of jerking around at every slight poke or sound gave the impression that the halfa was simply very high on caffeine.

He settled down behind Daniel in the balcony, watching the lanterns dim, and listening to people collaborately begin to hush in droves. It was starting.


	8. Drabble Six, Part Three of Three: Opera

Fourteen Ways to Say 'I Love You'

Drabble 3 of 3: Opera

Just please enjoy. *Passes out* Long and sappy story ahead. Please don't flame me.

~*0*~

_Flashback one:_

_It was over. He wished, as he did many times in twenty-three years of debauchery, that he would simply drop dead-albeit properly this time. He pressed his face to the cool glass of a gray, towering building, shuddering as the frost momentarily cooling his fever immediately melted, and soon after, evaporated into thin air. Groaning slightly, his vision distorted, Vlad Masters drew away, and continued on his march in the freezing gloom, his eyes glazed over, one gloved hand pressed against his aching chest. _

_It was happening again: His blasted, fiery spectral core was at its peak, and it was ventilating the excess heat in every bit of free space it could cram it inside. _

_And for right now, that 'free space' meant his body. He'd been suspecting this was dawning for a few days now, but instead of rushing to his lab to ward of the affects as usual, he'd allowed himself to succumb to fever for the first time in years. _

_Swallowing pills had not been successful. Blast it, even when he'd tried to hang himself, he'd lost consciousness, and phased through the noose. Why did the universe so desperately bond him to this living hell called an existence? _

_He smiled vacantly, as he glanced at his reflection in a puddle, silver strands of hair clinging to his gleaming face. _

_But this physical suffering was still nothing to the new ache that had been kindling itself inside for the past few months. While every pore of the miserable tycoon's body was positively radiating with heat, and his dry throat throbbed painfully each time he drew a breath, his raw obsession left him as cold as it was out here. _

_While his once overwhelming feelings for Madeline had now faded to a simple, meek shadow of what they were in his prime, they'd intensified themselves to a degree that he hadn't thought possible- _

_For someone else. For someone he could not have, even as a son. He was perverted. He was sad, he was empty, and the boy had been very right that day Vlad had come and ruined his prom; he was going to die alone. _

_Once more, he deserved to die alone. _

_After a while, he might have wandered into a bar. It was difficult to say. He faintly remembered a bitter tang on his tongue, and he recalled that the world was no longer moving around himself, although lights and sounds kept bursting and blooming in and out of his head in an incomprehensible blur. _

_~0*0~_

_He'd drank himself into an even deeper stupor than the one he'd previously been in, and the uncomfortable prickling on his back told him that he might be lying on concrete. He wasn't sure. Something cold and wet was striking him, and striking hard. He might have curled up slightly, or he might have relished it, although he was by now so hot that the drops were steaming out of existence shortly after impact._

_But suddenly, the raindrops were no longer plummeting on him at all, and Vlad had groaned, at last mustering the strength to move his head a couple inches, tremulously flip onto his back, and stare dazedly at the gray skies above him, hearing the wind and ocean roar faintly in his ears._

_Something was standing over him. It had a shadow, and it was moving closer. Scowling, he'd tried to shuffle away, although his efforts were pathetic. When he felt a soft hand burn against his cheek, he'd let out a sound, although he couldn't hear himself._

_When the world had refocused himself, he, Vladimir Masters, found himself staring directly into the shell shocked blue eyes of Daniel Fenton, whom was dressed in a dark raincoat, and staring at his former arch-nemesis with a small o for a mouth, his red umbrella clutched in his fist. _

~0*0~

Holy crap, how he hoped Kwan would not put an arm around his shoulder. The Asian teenager had already yawned and stretched several times, but every time he made to lean his arms backward around the loveseat (Danny dearly hoped the boy did not take that to heart), the boy started, as if he'd received a sharp little shock. When asked if anything was wrong, the young man cheerfully denied it, and Danny tried to ignore the unpleasant flutters of suspicion in his stomach.

The stupid villagers had already started singing the opening hymn, much as they'd done last time, although the performers were different, and there was no Vlad talking loudly with rude business associates. At the very least, there was that. The boy leaned his head against the plush side of his seat, and while Kwan's almond-shaped eyes kept diverting from the play to his lithe form, he did not notice.

In _The Silence of the Stars_, a small, insignificant village is introduced, with its headman, a young, goofy man named Jacques who'd been the son of a milkmaid, but whom had run off with the daughter of a nobleman, whose hand had been promised to a dark lord who'd been violently in love with her. At the prologue in the beginning, the young lord scorned by Maria swears unholy revenge, and is seen giving in to debauchery and dark arts after his court starts to go to ruin; so badly damaged is his reputation for losing his betrothed to his own footservant!

But Jacques and Maria are very happy. The village is very well run, and while not extravagantly wealthy, Maria is more or less the governor of the town, considering Jacques is too busy attempting to 'help' a disgruntled church exorcise evil spirits out of people. Maria, one of the few people in town whom can actually read, actually labors in the fields alongside her husband and fellow villagers, helps women deliver babies, assigns people given tasks, keeps track of the village stores, calls councils, deals with tax payers, and essentially, is the head honcho, although people in her time are too stupid and stubborn to admit that a woman wears the pants in their midst, so they 'technically' have chosen Jacques as their headman.

Watching the villagers sing and frolic, celebrating the joys of Springtime, Danny almost let out a dry laugh.

Jacques, Maria, and the brokenhearted lord named Andrei who'd allegedly disappeared after losing Maria. The irony was just sickening.

Oddly enough, Danny felt lonely, although Kwan's hand was brushing against his own, and he made no move to pull away. Soon enough, Maria was sitting by the hearth fire, and singing of her wonderful life and family, whilst pondering Andrei's fate five years after her little boy, Pietro, was born. While she mourns for the lord's sake briefly, (She believes him dead) She has moved on, and spends only a few minutes singing of Andrei, whereas when she starts singing of Pietro, whom she loves dearly, the woman won't shut up. Lovely a voice she had, the quivering richness of the swelling notes from the orchestra pit band was starting to hurt Danny's ears.

Soon enough, she jumps to the meat of the matter: She's trying to raise Pietro to be unspoiled and true, and the entire village is set to point Pietro in the right direction, considering he will one day be headman himself. While Pietro is introduced as a smiling, thoughtful child, he prefers to walk under trees with changing leaves over wrestling with the other children, and the kid got all dreamy when it came to picking the corn crop in the fields. Pietro sings a lullaby to his mother, and talks about his various, charming misadventures that made the halfa want to roll his eyes just a little bit.

But while the seasons come and go, and ten years later, Pietro's still combing the beach for pretty shells and odd bits of rock, terrible things are happening in the kingdom. Andrei has gone into seclusion for many years, but he is most certainly not dead, and is out for blood and conquest. His army has gathered up a hundred thousand youths, by force and coaxing, and he coerces them all into taking the capital itself. He duels with the jolly old king, easily wins,and makes him watch as his wife is murdered, and his children are thrown into vats of boiling hot water. Shortly after, the king is slaughtered, and Andrei is crowned by the pope himself to be ruler of the realm.

When Andrei began the vast executions, fake as they were, Danny let out a small gasp that had heads turning, and the boy buried his face in his hands. Kwan had attempted to comfort the boy, but soon enough, was turning green himself, and the boy had hurriedly stood up with a hasty murmur of "Bathroom!" before he'd hurried off.

And so Danny was left alone. He supposed he shouldn't mind very much. This hadn't been the first time this had happened during one of these performances.

~0*0~

Ghastly things are said about the hideous new ruler. He ordered the children of the taxpayers whom could not pay him to be brought to his fields to toil in murderously difficult conditions. Few returned, and while some whispered that it was cholera, others insisted that it was ill work, and that Andrei was the devil himself, eating them all. Few of his maids returned very regularly to their homes in the countryside, and they refused to speak of conditions in the castle, although all of them were begged. The king made it very clear that he had no patience for a loose tongue, for he would cut it out himself.

No one dared to take this threat in jest. Too many of the lucky ones had been fired from working at the capital, mute for the rest of their lives.

Crime went down significantly, as too many were now terrified to face the horrible torture that came from simply stealing bread in a marketplace. Death with the dough in your mouth would be preferable.

Andrei was a harsh, bitter shell of a man, and tales of his cruelty became wild, almost ridiculous, but few could doubt that the King had ordered his men to rape and slaughter the people of neighboring countrysides, and stab expecting women in the stomach before the mothers were swiftly decapitated. Only a trusted few could be allowed near him, those who, with a word, could send a house up in flames by royal decree or strip a province of its every luxury until it had become a husky graveyard.

Maria and Jacques are dismayed by this turn of events, but are hopeful; their village does well enough for themselves, and the crops are good, much as they are every year. There is a surplus in storage. Andrei doesn't know where Maria is. All will be well enough, Jacques tries to assure his troubled family.

Zip. Zilch. Wrongo.

Pietro's this little saint with an amazing consciousness, a sense of justice, and a can-do hopeful attitude that nearly gave Danny cavities, although he certainly rooted for him in the beginning, when he'd first seen this play.

Now he only wished the actor would run away as soon as possible.

Andrei starts taxing his own countrymen into poverity, and soon enough, the Village is left destitute, particularly after a bad crop leaves so many hungry and hopeless. Because they cannot pay, the King himself comes to the town, and demands that the Headman step forward.

That, of course, is Jacques. Andrei's pretty happy about this, of course, and so cheerfully demands the poor man's head, ignoring his former beloved's screams and cries for mercy. The King soon leaves, leaving a carriage for the Headman to take to his castle, where he will be publically executed, and the townspeople given a pittance for the winter in return. Of course, much to Maria's grief, everyone, including Jacques, agrees that the Headman must do what is right in the name of the village, else everyone starve. Pietro is heartbroken, although he comes to realize that, as he's come of age at fifteen, he IS technically Headman whenever he claims the title.

With that loophole in mind, Pietro leaves a farewell letter to his parents before he sneaks off in the dead of night to the black carriage before Jacques is set to board it in the morning, and asks to be taken to the castle, to his doom.

Hearing the mournful clanging of the iron bell as Pietro's carriage set off for the Fortress, Danny rubbed his red eyes, longing to curl up into a ball on the fine red velvet while someone rewrote this nightmare. It was making him far too sad, and the hollowness inside only grew deeper.

It was then, however, that a pair of arms encircled him, and the boy started violently, only to look up into Kwan's quiet expression, his eyes narrowed. Puzzled, Danny cocked his head slightly as the large boy settled down next to him, and pulled the halfa towards him.

"K-Kwa….?"

But the boy only continued to stare at the curtain, which had fallen at the end of the scene, expression mutinous. Now, it was slowly beginning to rise again, and Danny's eyes flickered from it back to his old bully, decidedly uncomfortable.

And yet, no so very much so. Kwan was warm, and he certainly didn't look green any more, although he did look very pale, now. His grip was tight, but it was warm, and reassuring, and almost by reflex, Danny felt his weary body sinking into the touch, although he was torn between the urge to push the young man away, and the urge to be held by what felt to be a very familiar hand.

He wasn't at all certain why, considering Kwan had never held him like this before, let alone at all, to be honest. The teen almost laughed at the boy's grim face. What was up with him? Did he think he was being manly, or something?

But it was comforting, foreign and familiar to him all at the same time. The boy's blunt fingertips started brushing absentmindedly through his hair, and while Danny blushed darkly and briefly considered pushing the boy away, he supposed that this was not SO bad.

His eyes wandered back to the scene on stage, where Andrei is standing at the scaffold at the castle, bragging about his victory to his terrified men….only to have a young teenage boy dragged to him, instead.

He's bewildered, and then infuriated, but BECAUSE Pietro seized the term of Headman, Andrei can't afford to send him back and kill Jacques in exchange, because all of his knights and noblemen are watching, and, well, Danny didn't quite get the fact that a man so vicious and evil could care about an alleged 'honor code,' but nevertheless, Pietro is sentenced to death by the King, whom is so angry, he can hardly speak. First, however, he wants to give Pietro a good bit of time to dread his oncoming demise, so he orders the boy to be thrown into the dungeon before his execution at dawn.

Later that evening, the King gets a little bored, and decides that there's not much sense in having a triumph unless you can boast about it a little, and Pietro's death really WOULD be an enormous blow to his betraying parents, so he dons his finer robes, takes a scepter, and, like a three year old child, marches off to the dungeons.

Kwan smelled nice. Why hadn't Danny ever noticed that before? By now, both of them were lying on their sides, and the young halfa was pressed against the boy's chest from behind him, and Kwan continued to caress Danny's head, although his expression looked a little wistful, now. The teen wondered why. Kwan looked significantly older, too-as if he'd put on many years just by watching this drama.

Andrei bursts into the dungeon, which is filled with the destitute, the starving, and rats are scurrying everywhere into the gloom. It's so cold underground, Andrei can see his breath. But he doesn't betray a thing other than satisfaction as he passes by stick figures of bones, who cower before the sight of their king, and scuttle into the shadows, their large eyes fearful and hollow. Chains rattle as they do so-the majority of the prisoners have been shackled together to enormous weights.

It doesn't take too long for the king to find Pietro's lonely cell, and he walks in finding the young lad tossing his hardtack bread out through the bars to a mother and child in the next cell. Pietro turns around with a small smile when he finds the king in his room, greets him politely, and offers him the one wooden stool in the room instead of the filthy straw that the boy is sitting on.

Of course, the king isn't very delighted by this response, and starts deciding to torment Pietro about his death. The boy just kind of vaguely agrees that it should be terrifying to march to his own beheading, but he says he's probably going to think of his village instead, and of a neighbor whom just had a baby two days prior, and Pietro was going to spend as much time as he had left wondering if it were a boy or a girl. Kind of aghast, Andrei calls Pietro mad, but Pietro only shrugs, takes it, and then, with a small, kind smile, asks the king how he is doing this evening.

"Are you an imbecile?" blusters the king. "Do you not know to whom you speak?"

Pietro never once blinks an eyelash. "Do you not know that you're speaking to one who does not know to whom he speaks?"

Getting one-upped is annoying and slight satisfying to the king, for whatever reason, and he starts plaguing Pietro with questions. Why did he give his supper away?-"Well, gracious, my Lord, it isn't as though twill be needing it. If I faint at the scaffolds, all the better, and I'm positive the kind saints you employed as guards will rouse me awake, or simply carry on with their business, and I should be all the more fortunate."

Why die in the place of his father? "Tis my duty, sir. I would die were Father to die-I would die for him to live. I am lost, regardless, so I will have to hope that your executioner draws the experience out as much as possible, so that I can be vain inwardly and suffer; and so that His Majesty enjoys the spectacle of my demise, which will hopefully stay his inward bleeding. But I fear it won't. Father says bloodshed will never appease one's vengeful blood in their veins."

This unnerves Andrei even more, and, after a few more questions, he finally snaps at the boy, and takes his leave, lost in thought.

The next morning, everyone is gathered in the courtyard to witness the spectacle. Andrei is in his throne, but now does not look so nearly as happy as he once did. People start pounding on drums as the executioner drags the young boy through the gates, through the king's sea of soliders. The boy is talking with his hooded executor, his expression composed, although his face extremely pale, and his thin limbs are shaking like a leaf.

It's at the scaffold that the Headman's crimes are read aloud, as well as his sentence. People force themselves to cheer for this boy's demise, although it sickens them, and Pietro briefly steps aside from the frozen action to sing a haunting, bittersweet ballad that had tears coming out of Danny's eyes once again. Much to his surprise, Kwan gently wiped them away.

The Executioner, whose wife lived at Da-er, Pietro's old village, and was the one whom just bore a baby, speaks to Pietro about it briefly, as a messenger had not yet been sent to tell the man that his babe was born. After thanking Pietro for the news, the man gruffly tells him that it will be over quick, and Pietro thanks him after kneeling, says a brief prayer, and lies his own neck on the chopping block, while the bloodthirsty crowd sings for the boy's death. The king only stares at the boy, saying nothing.

Andrei is bewildered by the fact that Pietro is smiling, albeit tearfully, and orders the executioner to stop before the sword falls. The lord marches over to the scaffold, and demands to know what the devil the boy thinks is so funny.

Now, Pietro is a little flummoxed, but he boldly says that he finds nothing funny, and unless the king had the nerve to slaughter his enemies himself, he wants nothing more to do with him, for once he dies, he will only have to wait for a few short years, or some turn of misfortune, before the king is Pietro's equal, and he will have to follow him into the grave, for the king is not infallible, and will perish, much to the joy of many.

Several women in the crowd faint over the boy's boldness, and the king just LOOKS at the boy crumbled at his feet for a moment. Then, he orders Pietro to be sent back to the dungeons, and he tells his throngs of people that there will be no execution today.

Andrei visits Pietro again, and while Pietro tries to be lighthearted, the kid's slightly tearful over the fact that he has yet another night to ponder his demise, although he tries to knock aside his fear with the fact that he 'has one more night, if not under the moon, with candlelight.' Andrei scoffs at the little stub of wax Pietro has burning, and kicks it out of existence. Then, in the darkness, he asks if Pietro hates him.

Pietro says no. King calls him a liar. Pietro says that pity and hatred cannot stay in the same vessel for him, and that he pities the poor king, for while he has mountains, he has nothing. The king asks if he has a death wish-Pietro starts singing, which, of course, the king DOESN'T find weird in this stupid opera-and the king leaves him alone for one more night.

Then, the king comes in the next day.

And the next one.

And the next one after that.

Pietro always offers the king a smile, his chair, and occasionally an ear whenever the king wants to sneer and mock him, but what usually winds up happening is that the king starts ranting over the bawdiness and dishonor of his court, or of criminals, or of the many petitions people expect him to read and clarify. Pietro lends him an ear, offers a gentle word if he is asked for his opinion, and the king leaves him every night, slightly stunned, and a little rueful that the boy offers such wisdom. Initially, he tries to dismiss the boy, but actually tries one of his suggestions, and winds up getting a double amount of gold in tribute from a neighboring province. Hating to be in anyone's debt, the king walks to the prison one last time, and says that Pietro's life will be spared, but only IF he swears fealty to the king as his servant. Forever.

Needless to say, Pietro's thrilled about his life being spared, although when he petitions the king if he can return to his village one day, he is given a swift no. Pietro is very sad, but counts his blessings as he moves into the stables the next night as the stable hand's new apprentice. Unbeknownst to him, the king watches him move in from a tower window.

Pietro works hard, is marvelously good with the horses, doesn't at all mind that he still only has straw to sleep on, and charms/bewilders the frightened vassals of the king. The king goes out riding just a bit more, for soon enough, Pietro is trusted enough to bring stallions for the king himself. He gets a bit more to eat, and now has free time in the evenings for him to wander the woods. He still confounds the king, and Andrei thinks of Pietro when he goes to bed at night.

One day, after Pietro's been there for maybe a month or two, the king goes on a ride deep in the woods, but it starts storming, and after his horse is spooked by thunder, Andrei is thrown off, hits his head, and is unconscious in a dark glade while his horse runs off for home.

Pietro waits for the king, but he doesn't return, and he starts getting nervous towards the evening, because it's pouring outside, by this point. When he sees a horse approaching from the distance, he's so relieved that he runs to greet it, but the horse is limping, and there was no rider.

While the rest of the castle staff simply wants to celebrate this turn of events, Pietro screams "SHAME! SHAME ON YOU ALL!" and successfully guilts everyone into organizing search parties. Pietro himself grabs a lantern, and hurries off into the forest on a horse in search of the king. Hours later, he does find the man, groaning with a bloody head on the ground, and an injured foot. Pietro awkwardly pulls him onto his back, and heaves the motionless king back onto the horse before Pietro turns the horse around, and they start cantering back. The jostling wakes the king, whom isn't too pleased with this turn of events, insists on taking the reins himself, and starts griping the whole way back, although he can't understand Pietro's joy.

_Flashback Two:_

_When he'd woken, his head was throbbing as badly as though a railroad spike had recently been hammered through his skull, and though the unpleasant sting of acid at the back of his throat told him that he must have thrown up the previous night, he was startled to find that he felt much better than before. He noticed now that there was no painful burning, and his skin, which had been breaking out with fever spots what must just have been hours ago-felt oddly soothed, as if a balm had been generously applied on each sore. _

_He felt a light, cool and comfortable pressure over his heart, and, eyes still closed, he blindly reached out to it, lightly caressing the icy appendage, trailing down as he felt small, slight fingertips shivering madly in his-_

_Vlad's eyes shot open, and in a flash, he 'd violently tore himself from the unfamiliar hand, his eyes momentarily flashing red as he'd whipped his head around, heart pounding._

_And what he saw made his heart stop, and abruptly fall into his stomach. _

_The unfamiliar room was glittering with frost, and miniature icicles sparkled softly from the ceiling and doorframe. He could see his breath; permafrost twinkled on the carpet below, and on the bedding beneath him. But that was by far what astounded the man the most._

_Danny Fenton, deathly pale, and dark circles hollowing his eyes, was glaring balefully at him, rubbing two shaking hands together, shaking violently. _

_~*0*~_

_He looked around; the room was small, with a small bed, a bookshelf or two, a desk, and a few dog-eared posters hanging on the wall that looked like either star charts or members of some band called Dumpty Humpty. _

_"What is this?" Vlad at last broke out in a rasp, meaning to sound demanding, but instead simply sounding pitiful. "I…I don't….Daniel?" he asked feebly, as the teen slowly crossed the room and stood in front of the door, arms crossed, with a small frown on his face. Shaking his head, and wincing at the sharp sting of pain at the base of his skull in response, Vlad shakily moved off the bed, one hand leaning against it for support._

_"What in the world happened last night?" he asked at last, staring bewilderedly at the ice twinkling on Danny's dark shirt. "Where….what is this place?"_

_Snorting, Danny rolled his eyes, though he looked more relieved than anything else. _

_"T-t-t-this is m-m-my room, E-E-Einstein," he gasped, wrapping his arms tightly around himself, his lips a dusky blue, much to Vlad's concern. "I c-couldn't take you to a h-h-hospital, considering you o-overloaded the t-thermometer when I tried to get your t-temperature. I didn't know a-anyone YOU knew who c-could help you, so I just took you back to my d-dorm with me."_

_Vlad colored, immediately tensing up._

_"Interesting. And your proposed method of treatment was to turn the thermostat below zero?" _

_Danny immediately shot him a very dirty look._

_"No, fruitloop. Once I got you in bed-" Vlad tried not to think of alternative outcomes from that sentence-"I tried to get you to r-relax, but you kept t-thrashing and yelling." Danny looked like he was ready to say more, but he only bit his lip, and then, awkwardly continued:_

_"First, I tried an icepack, b-but that melted. Then I tried w-with the t-thermostat, but that didn't work e-either. Nor did filling t-the bathtub f-full of i-ice and-"_

_"You did what?" Vlad breathlessly demanded, his face contorting with horror. Danny scoffed. _

_"N-No. I put y-your hand inside the w-water b-before I actually tried….um…." If any color could come to the young halfa's face, there'd be a rose garden blooming in each cheek. _

_"….and the entire vat started bubbling. I started g-getting scared, so I f-finally just figured you h-had the opposite of what I get sometimes w-with my own ghost powers. I reached for the c-cold in my core, and started pushing the e-energy into your b-body. You g-got quiet, then."_

_Aghast, Vlad stared at the boy, and then at the room-turned-icebox, uncomprehending. _

_"But my boy…." He began, unwilling to accept Danny's words, but now vague strips of memory were beginning to slide into his previously vacant slots. _

_"How long did you do…that?" he asked at last, determinedly looking as hard as he might away from the teen, gooseflesh prickling his alabaster skin, and not from the chill in the air. _

_Danny shrugged, though his wan face told a different story. _

_"Your fever broke somewhere around two in the morning, but every time I tried to stop pushing the energy in, you g-got pretty….upset, and you wouldn't quiet down unless I started reaching for the energy again."_

_He paused, and then went on again, as if he could not stop himself:_

_"I've never seen you c-cry before, Plasmius," he said sincerely, much to the man's sheer mortification._

_He remembered dreams of an angel looking over him, but it had kept trying to go away. He had cried like a child and clung to it, adoring it all the more when it had at last hesitantly bent down to him, and had started sifting its cool fingertips through his hair while one cold hand still generated icy blasts of energy through his body, each pulsation a cool whisper of relief for his burning skin. _

_But that would not-could not-have happened. Vlad glowered at Danny dangerously, effect somewhat lost as Danny was now gazing somewhat blankly into space, looking weary. _

_"You will tell **no one** of this," Vlad hissed, crossing the room in two strides to the boy's side, fists clenched, face contorted with anger, heart with humiliation. _

_To his surprise, the boy only nodded faintly, and then, he slid to the ground with a light groan, hands whiter than a sheet slowly moving to his sickly face, covering his large, childlike blue eyes. _

_Vlad stared at him, nonplussed, his clenched fists slowly relaxing, confusion etching on his face for a moment. But in a second, a spark of realization entered his eyes, and with a startled 'oh!' the billionaire bent to one knee, next to Danny, who now had his hands buried in his dark hair, looking pained._

_"Daniel….Daniel, are you alright?" he asked worriedly, hesitantly drawing a hand to Danny's forehead. The teen tensed slightly, but much to his surprise, did not draw away. That confirmed it more than Danny's freezing skin-which felt so much like marble in a December draft- did to the man; the young halfa was seriously ill. _

_That, or simply exhausted. Probably both. Danny attempted to swat the man's hand away, which did not nearly so trouble him as the fact that Danny's hand felt colder than marble did. Rolling his eyes and sighing heavily, Vlad carefully scooped the wriggling boy, huffing when Danny rolled his eyes, and tried to punch him. _

_"Don't," Danny grumbled unhappily, kicking pathetically at the man as he shifted into ghost form. "I'mmmaright. Leggo. I have class." _

_"Oh, be silent, you little fool."_

_"I have a test today-"_

_"Screw your test, I have money. I assure you, Daniel, I've already clarified that all of your teachers can be bought."_

_"Hey!"_

_But before the ghost boy could do so much as murmur another word of protest, Vlad carefully draped his white and red cloak around the two of them, spun on his heel, and the two were abruptly gone._

_~(*)~_

Andrei watches Pietro disappear into the stables again that night from his room after the doctor treats him. It's still pouring outside, and the king is already aware that the stables are leaky. After he can't take it anymore, he sends for a maid, who scurries into the courtyard outside to fetch Pietro, whom is confused, but hurries up to the king's chambers, anyway. Because Andrei can't stand the idea of being in someone else's debt-yet again-he orders Pietro fine, dry clothes, and orders him to get into bed-the king's very own.

Before you can entertain any dirty thoughts, the king dozed off in a chair in one of his chambers. Pietro kept coughing during the night, and wakes up with a high fever. The doctor is summoned again, but advises Vla-Andrei to have a eulogy made soon, for the boy is violently ill, and will most likely perish before long.

And so, the king himself nurses Pietro day and night, and because the physicians did not dare move him, there in the king's chambers the boy stayed, for days and nights on end.

When at last the boy takes a turn for the better, the king is jovial, although he still teases Pietro unmercifully, though Pietro takes it in gentle good humor, as always. When Pietro gets bored, but is forbidden to leave the bed, the king starts instructing him on how to read Russian, because none of his books are in Italian. (language Pietro speaks) When Pietro is mostly recovered, the king sends him down to work in the kitchen gardens under the pretense that Pietro deserves to be humiliated doing women's work, but in fact, he does it so that the boy does fairly easy work bringing vegetables back and forth to the cook with a warm and dry loft to sleep in. The king watches Pietro cheerfully talk with his new co-workers, and his expression is thoughtful after he receives an invitation from one of the nine lords underneath him.

"Kwan?" Danny whispered, as King Andrei began to sing about the Hour of Knives-a competition all the noblemen's youth had every year in dueling. "Um….are you….okay?"

Kwan's eyes flickered from the play back to Danny, and the hairs on Danny's neck abruptly stood up when the boy thought he saw a stir of something familiar underneath the dark eyes. Dread immediately erupted in the depths of his stomach, and the boy immediately drew back from Kwan's comforting heartbeat, his blue eyes narrowing.

"Kwan. Say something."

His old bully only stared at him, looking troubled, and slightly abashed. Apprehension bubbled into cold realization, and Danny drew back from the man as if he'd been burned.

_"….Vlad."_

~(*)~

In retrospect, this was probably wasn't the best idea he'd ever had, but the little badger had looked so unhappy, particularly when Kwan had tried to run out because of an upset stomach. Heart of a lion, that one.

At the very least, Danny was not dragging him outside to proceed to beat the crap out of him, but now, the boy was sitting as far away from him as he could, and the fiery aura that was emanating around him was poisonous, and it made him shudder. Danny was trying to ignore his presence entirely, which hurt the man more than the idea of Danny beating him offside his head did.

_"You have twenty seconds to get out of Kwan's body before I annihilate you," _Danny growled, flushing when opera patrons glanced back to shush him.

Kwan glanced at him, and, to Danny's surprise, the ache in his eyes had disappeared, and now, the teen was staring at him, somewhat dazedly.

"Um….hey, Danny. Dude, are we in the third act already? Did I fall asleep?"

A number of people shushed him, and the boy blushed, and settled back against his seat before taking Danny's hand again. Danny stared at him, and buried his face in a shaking hand before Vlad hurriedly phased back into Kwan's body, still invisible.

The boy had said to get out, and he did, but he didn't specify how long.

Andrei knows of the competition-his father entered him himself when he was a lad. But because he has no son, he simply decides to train Pietro in the way of swordsmanship, and he accepts the Lords' invitation, scheduled in just a few short months. After that, he takes Pietro underneath his wing, and at first, the boy is hopeless-so much so, that Andrei insists on getting Pietro quarters next to his own in order to sharply check the boy's stupidity in the waking hours.

But soon enough, he realizes what is the problem, and Andrei gets Pietro to look at fencing in a new way-rather than destroy, it is self-defense, primarily for you and the people you care about.

And, with that new philosophy, Andrei grows in skill, so much so that in a matter of months, Pietro soon disarms the king himself, much to his delight. Shortly after, Pietro is entered in the competition, and while everyone complains about the fact that they were dealing with a poor boy, Andrei said that anyone who didn't like it could kiss the executioner's blade.

They all certainly quieted down after that, although the young men Pietro has to duel against are boorish, underhanded, and cruel. Despite this, Pietro wins the competition, and, as it was the King's sword who won, the noblemen are all obligated to pay 1,000 gold rupees each to the king, much to Andrei's delight. Soon enough, Andrei has hired tutors for the boy, and, upon getting tired of only seeing the boy serve his cup, insists that Pietro dine with him, also.

Pietro is only too happy to follow Andrei around everywhere, and it soon becomes evident after a masquerade ball that: One, Pietro is homosexual, and Two, Pietro is in love with his master.

Months after, Andrei decides that he adores this boy he has invited into his council, although he believes he is strictly paternal towards Pietro.

Pietro becomes Andrei's preferred and constant companion, and the two get into various adventures together as Pietro helps guide Andrei's ruling hand into being much more gentle. They spend the holidays together. They travel around the world. A year goes past since Pietro decided to die in his father's stead, and, on the boy's sixteenth birthday, Andrei proudly showers him with gifts, and an offer for Pietro to become his legally adopted son and heir. He doesn't expect Pietro to turn him down, and already has a host of celebrations planned.

However, Pietro, who is frozen at the table, cannot accept, partly because he doesn't wish to renounce his father, as Andrei wishes him to do, and partly out of the grief that comes with the idea of being Andrei's heir, when he wants to be his lover.

And everything goes downhill from there. Andrei is slightly appealed by the idea, but mostly shocked and revolted, and is terribly hurt by Pietro's refusal. While Pietro tries to soothe him, and says that he'll gladly do anything else if only to be by the man's side, Pietro is thrown into a dungeon again, and Andrei sends him a priest to help him, in a medieval version of pray the gay away. Furious and heartbroken, Andrei rides into the village, and finds Pietro's grieving parents, for they believe their son is long since dead. Andrei swiftly slaughters his old foe, tears out his heart, and charges off again, leaving his old beloved, Maria, sobbing helplessly as she cradles her dead husband's body. Something inside cracks, and soon enough, she's leading the villagers to the castle, all bearing torches and knives to hang the black tyrant.

He's seen it all before, though it still makes him teary-eyed: Andrei rides back to his castle on a black stallion during a storm, aware that the villagers are amassing to destroy him. However, he can care less about that, considering he knows he won't even have to draw out his swordsmen. The archers he had for hire would surely slaughter them all before they could even reach the front gate.

However, despite the fact that his long-standing vendetta with Jacques has ended with Andrei clutching his heart in a lacquered box, Andrei feels a sickening stab of apprehension, as he wonders (Despite his sadness, Danny had to snort with derision here) if he MIGHT just have done something terribly, terribly wrong. His paternal feelings for Pietro are still there, but the more disturbing affections for the boy had only blossomed into something he's certain will damn them both.

In fact, the Lord throws the box into a wild river, exclaiming that it would break Pietro's heart to hear of his father's demise. Andrei rides back to the castle, intent on releasing Pietro so that everything can go back to the way it was before.

However, Vlad had assured Danny that happy endings were scarce in operetta before they'd gone to see the performance for the first time, and it appeared that this play was no such exception.

After a few days, Andrei charges his steed back to his castle, and rushes like a madman to the prisons, only to hear some maid-friend of the boy's weeping and wailing, or whatever it is damsels in distress do. She had confided in the boy of his father's murder.

It is there that he finds Pietro in his cell, cold as clay, dead with a note of farewell and a love letter written with the blood he'd spilt after stabbing himself multiple times-with the very same knife that Andrei had thrown him the first night that the two had met in the dungeons, after the king had sardonically asked him whether or not he'd like to leap to his death now, and get it over with.

Andrei starts weeping, and the orchestra played some hideous music that had Danny in tears again while Andrei starts lamenting. Shortly after, Andrei has climbed his tower, and watches the townspeople slowly approaching the castle. He'd dragged Pietro up alongside him, and, after bundling him tenderly, places the lifeless body against a wall nearby, looks out at the angry little group of people bent on murdering him. After lightly asking Pietro what he thinks of the matter, waits for Pietro to say nothing, says he agrees, and the king dives off the tower to his grave.

At the end of the play, the new king of the region asks for an autopsy to be done of Andrei's body, as he is not at all convinced Andrei committed suicide. His team of doctors observe the man's corpse, and are surprised to discover that Andrei had NOT died when he'd fallen off the tower. Rather, the estimated time of death was a quarter of an hour beforehand, which makes no sense, considering witnesses saw the man plummet to the ground of his own volition minutes after his own demise. Andrei had been a dead man walking for twenty minutes, his heart broken inside of him.

Retch.

But no, they weren't able to simply leave the hideous story as it was, and allow he and Vlad to phase the hell out of the stupid box-that was, if Vlad wasn't too busy making small talk whilst Danny was crying.

The two souls are being shown during their judgment in front of the gates of the inferno. Vla-Andrei's earned his name on the blacklist and he nonchalantly acknowledges it, but is terrified when Da-Pietro's name also appears, considering he's committed the unforgivable sins of suicide and engaging in the mortal sin of unnatural affection.

Pietro actually pleads to be taken to hell as well, to the Eighth level where awaits an eternity of torment and endless agony. Of course, Andrei won't have this, and starts boasting to everyone in attendance on how he sullied the boy's innocence with his cruelty and remarkable design, which he claims to the devils and indignant saints of the jury that he created with an intellect to rival that of God's.

Of course, that doesn't fly too well with the holy army, and the seven ambassadors of vice are thrilled to hear this. Yay, eternal doom! Andrei also cleverly petitions that Pietro be allowed to accompany him, using reverse psychology. He knows that the Holy Ones are going to want him to suffer, and that the devil wants to torture him as much as possible.

What they have yet to discover is that that Pietro's presence in suffering forever would only destroy him again and again, agonizing minute after minute.

But by the time Pietro catches on, it's too late; the angels provide a staggering account of good deeds done in the boy's lifetime, and they decide to simply re-baptize the boy so as to allow him into the kingdom of Heaven. In the final scene, Andrei is being dragged away into the depths of hell, watching Pietro scream and cry as a bunch of martyrs cheerfully drag him into sacred waters, and dunk him in over and over until Pietro is completely purified, and steps out as an angel who has no memory of meeting Andrei at all.

Pietro hears Andrei sobbing, but cackalsoling with triumph, and turns to see an unfamiliar, damned soul cry out a goodbye to him before the darkness closes over him. He asks his new fellows whom the man was, but the other angels simply shrug him off as a sinner. Curious, Pietro disappears into paradise to query more about the man, and to discover if there is anything he can do for him.

He learns that the man is one of the wickedest souls that ever left its hoof print on Earth, who had ever rode a horse of the apocalypse. The amount of penance that would have to be done to free him for but a day, the smug Angel tells him, would be nothing short of a thousand years of good works onto the world.

And so, without another word, Pietro sheds his wings to walk the Earth as a hollow revenant, unable to die, despite the fact that he walks it a hundred times over, weary, but unable to cease, hungry, but never to be fed. He creeps into the homes of the sick, the suffering, and the grieving, and creates hope when previously there was none, escorts the dead to heaven's gate with consolations and promises of joy, comforts widows, stops a lord from killing a pet lamb belonging to the son of one of his vassals, and murmurs words you might hear and recognize as your better self. He is doomed, but not altogether unhappy-he's determined to rescue the strange mourner on whom he knows he's never set eyes on before, if but for a few hours before the cycle starts all over again.

And then, the curtain fell to the ground, and while everyone stood up to fill the Theater with thunderous applause, Danny remained frozen in his seat, exhausted as Kwan glanced his way, and attempted to embrace him. Of course, Danny noted a flash of scarlet in the teen's eyes, which only ticked him off all the more.

"Get off," Danny muttered angrily as the pair of arms around him tightened, and tried to draw him nearer. Though the only thing he really wanted was to be hugged by now, he wasn't going to sink so low for An-Vlad. The boy abruptly stood up in his seat after shaking his stalker off, and, once positive the real Kwan was standing and blinking confusedly before him once again, Danny took him by the hand, and lead him out.

_Flashback Three:_

_Having the boy in his home had been as wonderful and as awful as he'd expected it to be, and worse. Thankfully, Wisconsin had been a scant three hours away (One of the many perks of having Daniel at a University nearby), so teleporting had been a relatively painless, if not just a slight bit tiring-procedure. What worried him more was the fact that he had Daniel in his clutches, and he didn't want to do anything quite so stupid as he had done when he had lured Madeline into his clutches. He hadn't meant to confess so early as he did, but his eagerness had left him greedy, and had ruined his plans entirely. _

_ Danny had been still in his arms when he'd hurried him to his favorite parlor, drawing a green and gold blanket that had been resting nearby on a sofa around the teen before carelessly igniting an electric fire, filling the previously dark room with flickering light from the roaring flames in the hearth. He'd called for a maid on an intercom to fetch a hot water bottle or two, and rubbed the poor chapped hands to help the blood start flowing in them properly._

_At the very least, his breathing was soft and sweet, now that he'd fallen asleep._

_Smiling faintly, Vlad lightly stirred the boy's midnight bangs, and tenderly cupped one freezing, marble cheek. He was lovely._

_After holding Danny in his arms for a few short hours, and feeling the boy slowly become warm again, Vlad stared at the boy with slightly narrowed eyes before he hurriedly scanned the room, as though he feared that there might be spies. _

_ Just one kiss. An innocent one, on the forehead, and then, he'd know for certain that his feelings were, and always had been, strictly paternal._

_Slowly, watching Danny very carefully for any signs that he might soon stir, Vlad drew the boy's soft hair away, and pressed his lips in the lightest of brushes against the boy's forehead. _

_He drew away, his eyes still dark, still brooding as he considered Danny, who thankfully, slept on. _

_….well, that kiss HAD been innocent. At least, the frantic craving inside of him didn't seem to be ignited any more, but neither had it dampened, much to his disappointment. The only thing he now felt was strange-as though he were handling a newborn organism sculpted from paper-thin glass. He supposed that was fatherly and clean enough, although that still didn't answer his question. _

_Vlad pondered Danny's complexion for a moment. Thankfully, color was at last beginning to seep back into the boy's skeletal-white face-the fire was doing him some good. Nodding slightly in approval, Vlad again bent his forehead next to Danny's, and pressed his forehead against the other hybrid's. _

_This too, could not be call vile or sickening or even unclean. Just simple-a gesture one might use even amongst friends. _

_Vlad kissed Danny on the cheek, and drew away again. _

_But he better be sure. This time, he lifted a cool hand, cradled it in his own, kissed that, and bent over the hollow in Danny's throat, and kissed that too, resisting the urge to nuzzle it. He kissed his nose, and then greedily began to ponder the boy's lips, when-_

**_SLAP!_**

_Vlad startled back with an inaudible gasp, face aflame, ready to start muttering apologies or stammering excuses, heart pounding out of his chest. _

_But to his surprise, Danny only turned over slightly with a slight murmur, rubbing faintly at his nose (Which was twitching like a rabbit's from the slight kiss) and slept on, breathing unmolested. _

_Spellbound with disbelief and relief, Vlad stared at him wildly for a few moments, and then, once realizing the danger was passed, he closed his eyes with a slight sigh, and leaned his head back._

_Well, he had it confirmed._

_Yep. He was a pervert. _


	9. Drabble Seven: Vigil

Fourteen Ways to Say 'I Love You'

Drabble Seven: Vigil

~0*0~

Okay, gang, am a little sick right now, so this chapter will be a little shorter than others. Some of the flashbacks are reserved primarily for the story of how Vlad and Danny first started dating, others just kind of correspond to the drabble name in some shape or form. Was going to use the word 'Violin' for this one….but Nimrod the Writer already had Vlad playing it (And I'm sure he's splendid at it), so decided to go with something else.

Have spent the past few days throwing up…and actually can't type for too long at one time, otherwise I get dizzy and have to run back to the bathroom. :p Kind of a gross thing to bring up, but please review-once my head clears up a little bit, reviews are my medication!

As to the events of what occurs in this chapter….yes, my school has a GSA, (Gay+Straight Alliance) and tragically, yes, some of the below has been known to happen before. Thankfully, the community at hand seems accepting, or at least tolerant, even in the South.

Any events or similarities to any person, living or dead, is very, very unfortunate. And Lauren. Just. Plain. Sucks. At Writing. Mushy-gushy romantic fun scenes, okay? I'm trying...just not very good at the explicit stuff.

Oh, yeah, there's some explicit stuff. It's actually really, really hard to write this kind of stuff. Please feel free to skip the last flashback; just be sure to write me a review.

Long Author Notes are Long. :p

~0*0~

_Flashback One: Six Months Ago _

_The raindrops, like so many tiny little fingers, were gently_ tap, tap, tapping_ against the windowsill. Though night had not yet completely fallen over the little campus, the sky was already onyx, and people unlucky enough to be caught up in this weather (It was not so much the rain as it was the freezing blasts of wind that whipped the drops in one's face) were scurrying to and from buildings with parcels over their heads, eager to find shelter. _

_If you happened to look into a certain window in the dormitories that evening, and wiped the moisture away from the misty glass, you'd find a young man, whom, although already warm and safe in the confines of a tall man's arms, was shivering, although the two were wrapped up in blankets on Daniel Fenton's small bed, in each other, and there were two steaming clay mugs by the duo resting nearby on a nightstand. _

_And yet, you'd see that the boy would not stop trembling. You'd think he was anemic, because you simply wouldn't be able to hear the boy mumbling into the man's shirt, (I suppose it would be a job for anyone to do so to begin with) and the man's sorrowful, low baritone as his fingertips continued to press soothingly into the boy's hair, cradling his scalp. _

_When cold is on the inside rather than out, it can set your marrow to ice. _

_~0*0~_

_Still stroking Danny's dark hair, staring up at the ceiling for a countless number of minutes, Vlad sighed, glanced down, and drew his hands around the boy's waist, squeezing slightly, hoping beyond hope that Danny would smile, fidget, or complain. Heck, he would have settled for the boy's teasing him. _

_But still nothing-the teen was about as responsive as a stuffed animal. It was harder to say which was more unbearable for the man; watching Danny cry, or this deathly hush. _

_The silver-haired man stiffened, his grip tightening. If it hurt the boy, he did not show it, but the man was too distracted to notice in any case, now. He wished he had pursued that youth's attackers; while he himself had been guiltier of far worse crimes, what he had witnessed today made his stomach turn, and a sickening burn of acid sting his throat out of sheer disgust. _

_Plasmius would have done a lovely job of showing people just how wonderful it is to live and run in fear when someone is hunting you for sport, after your blood, all for the sake of the sin of existing. Except these terrible people deserved this retribution, especially after they'd wheeled the body away and Danny stumbled into his arms, sobbing hysterically for hours on end. _

_Only now had the boy quieted, but it certainly wasn't the peace Vlad had so desperately sought when he'd contemplated slapping the boy just to get him to calm down. _

_His cold eyes flickered downwards, and Vlad settled his chin against the top of Danny's head, murmuring._

_"Shhhhh…..shhhh," he said softly, although Danny wasn't making a sound. "Daniel, please don't be sad."_

_The boy couldn't even muster enough energy to look at the man whose bosom he was laying against, feeling Vlad's heart beat pulsating gently against his ear. But his expression was dead, and his lips barely moved as he whispered:_

_"Sorry. Should I laugh?"_

_Vlad didn't respond to that. Instead, he drew one of the boy's knees over his own, so that the two would be closer together. His lips traced from Danny's cheek to his ear, where he breathed:_

_"It's not your fault."_

_Eyes red, face ashen, Danny didn't respond, his glassy, tear-filled eyes still stricken, and staring blankly into space. His hands had dug themselves into Vlad's shirt, and the boy made no effort to move as the man paused in his caresses, casting the lifeless teen a troubled glance. _

_"Daniel. Did you hear me?"_

_His tone was mild, but now perhaps more stern. He drew his large hands into Danny's shoulders, and drew the boy into a sitting position. The blue eyes were still vacant, but after Vlad restlessly said "Daniel," over and over again, at last, Danny wearily met his eyes. At least he had enough energy to roll them at Vlad's cajoling-that was something. _

_Anger started to bubble inside of the billionaire again, but not for the boy. Although the frustration he was feeling was for Danny, and Danny alone. Vlad sighed._

_"Little badger, it was the police that failed that young man," he insisted, shaking Danny's shoulders when a reply did not come. "And those ghastly, horrible people failed him," he whispered, "Not you. At least the boy died knowing someone cared enough to intervene on his behalf."_

_Danny's eyes dropped back to his hands once again, but much to Vlad's dismay, he could see that they glittered with a fresh promise of tears. Biting back a soft groan, the man closed his eyes, and tucked Danny's head underneath his chin, moving his fingertips to rub soothingly at the hybrid's neck once again. The man frowned when Danny's shudders only continued thereon. _

_While a hot shower had left the two with warm, pink skin, Danny could and would not stop shivering. It was getting nasty enough to the extent that Vlad wondered if he ought to withdraw Danny from classes tomorrow, and perhaps spirit him away for an afternoon at his house. The teen was an obvious wreck. _

_He'd never lost anyone before. At least, no one he had tried to save. _

_The two halfas had been in the bookstore that afternoon on yet another secret excursion. Vlad had been scoffing at Danny's graphic novels, and Danny making fun of Vlad's Trotsky-when a group of teenagers had come bursting into the store to eagerly share news with the young cashier: At the High School, some youths had gotten together to discuss the possibility of creating a 'Gay' Prom when the High School had denied a young woman to bring her date-another young female-in as her official date for the dance._

_News circulated quickly around a sleepy, conservative town, which suddenly woke up with a vengeance, and the entire community had shown up in large numbers to protest the meeting, many armed with signs that said things such as 'God Abhors You=GAY' and 'Jesus Loves You and Has a Plan For Fags: Hell.' The leader of the LGBT unit had decided to come out and placate the shouting throngs outside the school, but, most unfortunately for him, he'd been well known as the group's leader._

_And the confused, angry, and shouting people, either desperate to prove something, desperate to please someone, or just simply lost after the spark of violence had been ignited in the confusion-had converged. The teens had just run in to tell their friend at the nearby bookstore that while the police had arrived, they were having a job of fighting through the crowds to get to the cowering mess on the ground. It was a sea of fists and kicks, and allegedly, some bloodshed._

_Casting a disturbed glance at the teenagers' direction, Vlad had only turned around back to the shelf, and started hunting for his book, frowning at the silence behind him._

_"Daniel, I'm positive by the time that you arrive, the police will have already sorted it out," he'd said confidently, pulling one volume out, staring at it critically, and pushing it back in with its fellows. "There's no reason for the two of us to get involved, and I'd rather we just enjoy the short time we have with one another before I have to drop you off back at school."_

_But there was still no answer. Rolling his eyes and muttering under his breath, Vlad turned around, but Danny was not there. Instead, there had been a little girl staring at him, holding hands with a woman, and clasping a stuffed bunny to her chest with the other hand. She tugged at the woman's cloak, pointing at the billionaire as she'd said:_

_"Mommy, Mommy, look at the funny man with the hat and glasses talking to himself!"_

_Well, it exasperated him to no end, but Vlad had reluctantly gone ghost (If he ever coined that stupid phrase, he was going to kill that boy) in the bookstore lavatory, and had hurried off in pursuit of the boy into town. They'd passed the local high school on the drive down to the shopping district, so he thankfully knew where he was going._

_In a way, he wished he hadn't. What he'd found was Danny Phantom cradling a violet and swollen face, beaten past almost all recognition. Danny's own was deathly white, and his silver hair glinted in a sea of silent protestors whom were slowly beginning to walk away._

_Vlad's lips traced Danny's, and the man gently pushed the boy onto his back. He straddled him, and, when the man's hands dipped underneath Danny's shirt, the teen only placed his hands on Vlad's torso, and tried to push him away._

_"Vlad, I can't," he mumbled, attempting to break a kiss. "Not now."_

_His voice had risen to a whimper, and the elder hybrid, disappointed, nonetheless drew his fingertips away from Danny's buttons._

_"…very well," he said reluctantly, wishing the boy wanted to forget as much as he did._

_….which, in reality, he suspected he did, but Danny was his polar opposite in too many ways. When he, Vlad, was tremendously sad, he preferred to quietly give in and grieve, usually over a glass (Thankfully, with Daniel, he hadn't been drunk on anything these past few months but joy) of one of his aged liquors. Or a week of excess luxury at his estate in Colorado. Or even an early night with a book and bed. Danny was always an excellent choice when he needed to abate loneliness. Heck, even pampering and spoiling his cat Maddie in his arms for a while sometimes did the trick. _

_Danny, on the other hand, saw no purpose in grief, or of nursing a wound unless it was of catastrophic proportions. More than once he'd greeted Vlad for a date, unaware that a ghost had left him a brilliantly purple bruise on his forehead, or a deep gash on his knee that was dripping with scarlet. _

_And something gave Vlad the nasty impression that Danny wasn't much one for addressing an emotional injury like heartache. _

_After a moment, Danny had stood up, gently untangled himself from Vlad, and had headed off to the kitchen. In a few minutes, Vlad began to smell coffee brewing. _

_Frowning slightly, Vlad had uncertainly stood up, glancing at the two mugs of chocolate he'd prepared after he'd flown Danny home. _

_"Daniel? Isn't it a little late for caffeine?" Vlad called out disapprovingly. It was getting late, and the boy had an early start tomorrow….that was, if he wasn't abducted by a billionaire during the night. Which was starting to sound a little appealing. _

_Thankfully, Danny's voice was fairly calm when he responded._

_"Nah. I'm gonna have a late night tonight, Vlad. I need to catch up on some studying before I make my rounds." _

_'In this weather?' Vlad's brow furrowed, and he hurriedly sat up on the small bed, frowning. _

_"Daniel, I applaud the fact that you're making good on your schoolwork…but I would advise-"_

_"And I'd advise you go home soon, Vlad," came the eerily calm, quiet reply. "You have work in the morning." _

~0*0~

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>Reasons I Should Date Kwan <span>_**

_1.) __He's funny _

_2.) __He's kind _

_3.) __He's polite _

_4.) __He's interesting _

_5.) __He knows places that make a mean ice cream in the tropics_

_6.) __He's sensitive _

_7.) __He's sweet _

_8.) __He held the door open for me when we left the stupid opera_

_9.) __If I had to come out to my family, at least they'd approve (Kinda) _

Danny Fenton sighed, and lowered his pen, tapping the end against his mouth thoughtfully. This was hopeless. Here he was, sitting aboard a great ocean cruise liner, and here he was spouting facts that he already knew to himself over and over again. Crossing out the lines he'd written with some dissatisfaction, the teen lay back in his beach chair, enjoying the feeling of the sun beating down on him from above, and hearing the waves crashing below the deck nearby.

This was nice. Provided when he wasn't obsessing over the Asian teen diving into the pool nearby, whom was looking up and giving him a brilliant smile (Danny colored and hid his face behind his notebook), this vacation was pretty sweet. Even Sam could be convinced to enjoy a few hours in the sun, and she was reading a Stephen King novel near the swimming pool on a Bonjour Buggy beach towel. Tucker was animatedly flirting with (And consequently getting slapped by) every pretty, bikini-clad girl he ran into, which there was in wide supply on the ship, much to the techno geek's pleasure. Dani and Val were playing beach volleyball with a group of girls nearby, and here the young hybrid was….

…..moping. God, he was pathetic. Couldn't he let this rest, at least for a few days? Was he little more than a dog that kept tossing and turning at night, longing to return home? Maybe that was WHY Vl-his ex-boyfriend had seen him as less than property. He was too co-dependent, to the point where it was getting pathetic. He was young, for the first time in weeks he was free, and in the freaking Caribbean. What was wrong with him?

Pushing his shades up, Danny smiled sadly, flipped to a new page, and started writing.

**_Reasons I Should Not Date Kwan (At Least Not Yet)_**

_1.) __Um._

_2.) _

_3.) _

_4.) _

_5.) __Um. My old bully? _

_6.) _

_7.) __I just had a bad breakup. _

_8.) _

_9.) __See number Seven. _

_10.) _

So he needed some time. Kwan himself told him he was willing to wait. He could enjoy himself on this vacation, maybe even try to flirt with someone he just met (The idea turned his stomach), and go home tanned, with lots of pictures, slightly sunburned, with souvenirs and a rejuvenated sense of self. Then, he could go back to school, and maybe, if one evening he found he had nothing else to do, he'd call Kwan, and they could have just a little conversation.

It wasn't as though it would be very hard-the two boys had gone out for dessert last night after the opera, and Kwan, eager to pull Danny out the depression he'd assumed had come with the opera's crappy ending, had immediately brought up a swarm of safe and easy conversation topics, like the ghosts in Amity Park, his favorite rock bands, football, college life, etc, etc. Thankfully, Danny had been so preoccupied with trying to appear normal that he'd forgotten his misery, and had found himself genuinely enjoying the conversation, as well as sharing a dessert with the boy. (Kwan had eaten the lion's share, but Danny didn't care.) They'd met their friends at the pier later that evening, and had disembarked. Everyone claimed exhaustion, and Kwan had kindly walked Danny back to his room, leaving the embarrassed halfa with a one-armed hug Danny couldn't help but reciprocate.

Later that evening, Kwan had tripped down the stairs, but that was an accident. Tucker had left a sneaker there; it was a sheer mistake.

Danny buried his face in his hands for a moment.

Good lord, if he didn't end this trip with a visit to a padded cell, he'd count himself lucky. He glanced up, and blinked when he noticed a vial of coconut-scented sunscreen sitting neatly on a nearby table with a little iced soda and umbrella he most certainly didn't remember seeing a moment ago. Telling himself that a friendly waiter had left it while he'd been constructing his list, Danny stubbornly flipped over, refusing to touch either. Let him burn.

His eyes flickered back to the Asian teen, whom had climbed out of the pool, and was now chatting amiably with Valerie. The girls must have finished their game. Valerie was walking and talking with the football player, who was walking backwards. Danielle darted behind the older boy, and sniggering, crouched down.

A smile bloomed on Danny's face for the first time in what felt like hours as Kwan stumbled over Danielle, crash-landing straight back into the pool with a large splash. While glistening water showered all over Danny and Sam, (who both started protesting immediately) Kwan immediately emerged, actually grinning ear to ear at the two girls howling with laughter at him at the pool's perimeter.

"Heeeyyy!" he protested, although it sounded as if he were laughing. "You're in for it NOW, ladies!"

The boy seized a nearby water pistol, and clamored out of the pool, chasing after the shrieking and giggling girls, squirting them both with liberal jets of cold water. Valerie whipped around, arm covering her eyes, an evil smirk on her face as she grabbed another gun lying nearby, and began to return fire. Danielle scurried to a nearby bucket, and cheerfully started to paste the already-soaked Asian with water balloons.

Something suddenly flew into Danny's lap, and the boy glanced down, startled. Another water gun. Kwan was holding his hands up in surrender, although the girls kept viciously coming at him. The two boys met eyes, and Kwan smiled that dazzling grin of his again.

"C'mon, Danny!" he sputtered, as Danielle hucked an enormous one straight for his face. "Even up the odds! They're killing me over here!"

Feeling a shy smile tug at the corners of his mouth, Danny dropped the notebook, and ran over, aiming the pistol at his younger counterpart, a smirk coming onto his face as he entered the water war, cracking up and dodging a purple water balloon zooming in from Sam's direction.

It was the first time in days that he'd felt alive.

* * *

><p><em>Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. <em>

And ow again. He'd thought those electrocutions he occasionally got from dealing with Technus were nasty, but never so again; the ghost of technology had nothing against the tropical ultra violet waves.

….at least, when you weren't wearing a liberal coat of sunscreen.

Still wincing, every pore of his body practically a fire engine red, Danny longed to shift from this spot to alleviate his discomfort, but experience had taught him that would only leave his already aching skin blistering with spores of fresh pain.

He heard a voice from nearby, and while he couldn't rotate his head one bit, he could tell it was Sam's. "Told you should have gone with sunscreen, Danny. My grandma lent me her old '_Whiter Shade of Pale'_ SPF that she and her friends used in ye olden days. Still, old fashioned medicine would have been better than none at all."

"Tell that to the guys selling snake oil to help the liver and humors," Danny grumbled, wincing as his lips cracked. "And you can quit rubbing it in my face, Sam. I just made a mistake-it happens."

A nurse wearing squeaky shoes walked into the infirmary, consulting a clipboard.

"Of course it does, dear," she said gently, albeit somewhat absentmindedly. "We get a few nasty cases of sunburn every day-simply a good lesson for you in the future."

Danny tried to nod unhappily, but when he'd tried to bob his head, his neck started to sting horribly, and he was actually blinking back tears. God, this was awful!

While the nurse began writing out a prescription pad and began lecturing Danny on the importance on using protection, (He and Sam were trying not to burst out laughing for her sake) Kwan immediately burst into the room, and, if his face weren't glittering so with sweat, Danny would have said that the Asian had gotten as bad a burn as he received out there today. Huffing and puffing, the boy strode over to the examining table where Danny lay, grabbing for the teen's hand, as if the young halfa were in labor.

"Dude! Are you okay?"

That touch had been a mistake; Danny let out a soft hiss of pain, and Kwan let go of the burned hand immediately, turning to the nurse with a look of dismay on his face.

Somewhere, someone was doing the same.

* * *

><p>Vlad's invisible red eyes narrowed sadly as he watched Danny slowly stagger to his bed, letting out soft gasps of pain as he tried to shift on his bed, could not, and so reluctantly curled into a small ball, hissing through his teeth whenever he moved so much as his little finger.<p>

Stupid, stupid, stupid boy. It only served him right, really. Vlad had tried to warn him, (Okay, perhaps not verbally, but he'd still attempted to keep the younger halfa from getting sunburned) but he'd seen the look of suspicion pass on Danny's eyes, and the boy had chosen to ignore his warning. Let Danny stew over for it for a while; let him live in discomfort for an evening.

…..or for a few hours.

….maybe just two hours?

Okay. One hour. That was his minimum. No buts.

….but if you shaved a couple of minutes off of that, was there really much of a difference?

Shaking his head, Vlad waited a long time before the soft sound of Danny's gentle breathing reached his ears, turned tangible, and hurriedly locked the nearby doors, face crumpling in disgust. Kwan had tried to escort the little badger inside, but the teen had very politely turned him down several times before he'd limped in. That idiot boy was simply a little bastard, and Danny was very sorely mistaken if he believed the boy wanted anything more than getting inside his pants. No one cared for him the way **he **could, else Danny wouldn't be covered in nasty red burns from his head to his feet. He could see why Daniel would forget; his short term memory was so poor that it couldn't hold water. The boy simply didn't know how to physically take care of himself, considering he'd gotten used to shaking off a cracked rib or a sprained ankle as a relatively small casualty.

Foolish, foolish, darling.

Vlad glided to the bed, hesitated, and then reached into his belt satchel to bring out a small, glowing vial. After unscrewing the top and wrinkling his nose at the unpleasant scent, Vlad very, very carefully reached for one of Danny's hands, drawing back when Danny unconsciously started in pain. After waiting in silence for a moment or so, he gently took Danny's hand in his gloved one, and started applying liberal amounts of a cream-colored ointment that was glowing softly onto the chapped skin, rubbing it into the damaged tissue with strong, purposeful fingertips. When he'd lifted up Danny's shirt and started smothering the boy's stomach with the cold stuff, the young halfa twitched, wriggled, and opened his eyes ever so slightly-Vlad could only see a slight sliver of Danny's cerulean eyes.

"…..mmm? Vlad?" he asked softly, drawing a red hand to Vlad's cheek and flinching when his skin screamed in protest. "What….what are you…..?"

Plasmius had immediately tensed up upon Danny's 'wakening,' but soon relaxed. The boy was still half-asleep, and mostly too out of it to understand what was really going on. Shaking his head slightly and closing his eyes, the billionaire only settled the confused boy's head back onto a pillow, and resumed his work.

"Nothing, Daniel. You're dreaming. Go back to sleep, now."

Danny blinked, his cheek tilting haphazardly into Vlad's gooey hand, but not seeming to notice or care.

"….this morning…..m'under….my bed….you left that old book of yours," Danny said inanely, as Vlad's hands slowly began rubbing the medicinal fixture into his leg.

"It's yours so long as you wish to keep it, my boy. Now go to sleep."

"But it's your original."

"I know. Go to sleep."

Danny said nothing for a moment, one partly opened eyelid already closing. Then-

"Vlad?"

"Yes, Daniel?"

The remaining sliver of blue twinkled from the stray bit of light tumbling into his fine room from the lighthouse outside the port window.

"I'm really happy you're here."

Vlad's fingertips stopped on Danny's ankle for a moment or two, and the man bit his lip. He tasted blood. Then-

"Will you please just close your eyes, Daniel?" he asked faintly, feeling as if he'd put on twenty years or so. "It'll make my work easier."

Obliging as a little kitten at this point, Danny did as the man asked, thankfully not hearing the soft tremor of sadness pass through the air.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback Two: <em>

_A week had passed since the incident in town, and Vlad knew it was time to stage an intervention. He only wished he'd done it sooner. He'd left Danny alone, as per the boy's wishes, but had returned to see a wreck walking around in his darling's room and in his darling's clothes. Clothes that looked a little bigger on the creature than they necessarily should have, and with shadows underneath its eyes. Danny had missed four classes in this week alone stopping what ghosts he could find (And there weren't many out here), or what criminals he stumbled upon._

_Unfortunately, there was always a good deal of those. But enough was enough. Danny was working himself to death, and while he hadn't wanted to resort to this, it was now his first priority._

_Vlad drummed his fingers impatiently on the door, glaring at his young lover frowning at a few maps before him on his desk, books askew. His room was a mess-more so than normal, and his bed hardly looked like it had been slept in at all in the past few days._

_"Daniel. I said, we're going."_

_Danny glanced up, dark hair falling over his eyes._

_"Vlad, I don't have time for a date right now. I'm really, really sorry, but I heard a News Bulletin about a convicted drug dealer in a car chase nearby, and I think the police could really use-"_

_"The police will handle it," Vlad answered shortly. "You're coming with me."_

_Danny only shook his head before returning to his maps, rolling his eyes in disdain._

_"Vlad, please. I've never once had to reschedule for you before; just let this be my first time, okay? I promise I'll make it-auugghhh! Hey! LEGGO!"_

_But Vlad had already swept across the room, seized the teenager, and hoisted him up bridal style in his arms. Danny immediately made to transform (Which was saying quite a lot, considering Danny never used his powers to get away from the man unless he was REALLY serious), but Vlad had already beat him to the punch, and had seized the teen by the chin, forcing him to look at him. Danny scowled and tried to kick, but shivered just a little bit at the look in the ghost's eyes. He'd forgotten just how scary Vlad could be when he wanted to._

_"Daniel," Plasmius hissed dangerously, his grip becoming uncomfortably tight, eyes flashing. "I'll make you a deal. Either you submit and come with me with no arguments THIS INSTANT, and thoroughly enjoy what it is I'm about to do for you in the next two days, or, I can make the next two days insufferable for you before you come back-IF I decide to give you back. Do you understand?"_

_Danny opted to allow the man to draw his white cape around the two of them, and teleport them to Vlad's castle in Wisconsin without much of a fuss, although the exhausted boy was pouting considerably all the way._

* * *

><p>You would have thought that the man was bringing him in for torture, but admittedly, the evening wasn't at all bad, even though Danny was desperate to join the criminal pursuit in his college town. However, while Vlad sounded amicable once again over dinner, Danny didn't dare push it. The 'scary eyes' weren't precisely his thing with Vlad.<p>

Dinner? Fine. Could he go home, now? Nope. He had to have a BATH of all things with the older half ghost. And okay, that was admittedly kind of hot, and soothing to have Vlad's hands working at the tension knots, but Danny tried not to allow himself to become too relaxed. Otherwise, he couldn't convince the fruitloop to let him go home again and pick up where he'd left off, locating all the disreputable alleys.

"Daniel," Vlad breathed in his ear, when the two were drying off and the man was wrapping an oversized, fluffy bathrobe around his naked skin. "You can't bear the world on your shoulders, half-ghost or otherwise."

The two had just walked out into a parlor, and Danny, in the midst of pleading his case, felt the world disappear from underneath him. He meeped, but he'd only stumbled into a small bed into the floor, onto which Vlad was pulling him down onto, tugging the boy into an intensive kiss.

Groaning and trembling, Danny weakly attempted to push the man off of him, but Vlad simply dragged him deeper into the kiss, tongue languidly caressing Danny's lips as the man's hands dug themselves into the boy's hair, into the small of the boy's back to press him closer against him. Danny immediately turned red when a long leg draped itself around his waist, wrapping around his own leg so as to eradicate any and all space left between them. After his shuddering hesitation finally gave way, Danny slowly gave in, twisting his arms around the man's neck and holding him tightly as the Vlad immediately began ravishing his mouth with the energy of a half-starved devotee, and the boy writhed underneath him, pressing against the man as if he hoped to escape his own body and become one with the man who was holding him so tightly-the one he loved so dearly.

After a few more desperate kisses, Danny broke one, gasping for air, moving away when Vlad made to engage their mouths once again.

"You really think this will change anything?" he asked, his voice so quiet that it startled him. "Fix everything?"

Slightly surprised, the ghost moved back slightly, his red eyes downcast, but deadly serious. Danny's heart picked up the pace as Vlad leaned forwards, and kissed the younger boy's forehead silently, before drawing down to the boy's lips again.

"No, little badger. But we'll talk later. As of right now, you're hurting, and I want to show you it's still worth it."

Vlad shifted, slowly pulling Danny down into the pillows, but the teen was confused.

"W-What d'you m-mean?" he murmured, when their lips slid apart again for another second.

Vlad said nothing, then immediately, his hand slid to Danny's bathrobe, and effortlessly phased it off, before his hand immediately wrapped around his arousal, stroking languidly. Danny's squeak-turned moan was abruptly cut off when Vlad immediately kissed him again, his dark blue eyes smoldering as he immediately swept a blanket around the two, sealing them in warmth and darkness as his mouth wandered away from Danny's, immediately finding a nipple and suckling, still administering languid caresses below all the while. Heart pounding in his throat, flushed, and practically cross-eyed with pleasure, Danny squeezed Vlad tighter, adoring the heated muscle and flesh he was suckling at Vlad's neck, admiring the velvety skin he found there, stomach fluttering wildly as if filled with butterflies, his body shuddering with desire, and Vlad's, judging from the prodding he felt against him, with the urge to be inside.

He heard a faint rumble from above him.

"I'll tell you later."


	10. Hiatus Alert

Hiatus Alert:

* * *

><p>Hey, guys. Because of the lack of general interest in this story right now, I'm putting it on momentary pause. These chapters were meant to be short, but they started expanding, and then the review level dropped. Honestly, I don't write a story for reviews alone, but I do appreciate your input and advice, (Pardoning that they're not nasty flame material) and it helps speed a story along. Last chapter earned no reviews, which makes me come to the conclusion either you got bored with the mush or I need to rethink this story a little. We shall see.<p>

Please keep reading my other materials. ^^ Thank you.


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